Love From The Angel
by ThatGirlWithTheiPod
Summary: First story sorry if it's bad. Liz has been a David Archuleta fan since she first saw him on American Idol. Now, after the AI Live Tour, she gets to live every fan's dream. However, with some added complications.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The sound of water turning off and playing music filled the top floor of my house.

"Liz, hurry or we're going to be late!" my mom yelled from her room.

"I know mom, I'm almost done!" I yelled back over my music.

"Ok well, you still need to dry your hair!"

"I know! Its ok I'll get done. Trust me."

This was a night she really needed to trust me, considering how important it was to me. Today could be considered as the end to so many things I have been waiting to happen this summer. Every year, some people in my family and I go to the American Idol Live! Tour. We have waited all year for this, from the beginning of the American Idol auditions, to the finale on the last day, and every Tuesday and Wednesday in between. Finally, this night has come. There was one thing that made this night special for me. My grand mom had bought me the tickets for my birthday.

"YOU'VE GOT ME HYPNOTIZED, SO MESMERIZED, AND I JUST GOT TO KNOW…." I sung along with my music.

"I hope you are getting done." said my mom again, now from the bathroom.

"I am mom! I'm almost done my hair." I replied.

The other reason this was going to be special was because my younger cousin was coming. I was so excited to know that she would be in the car, waiting for me to come in, talk to her about our outfits, where we got them, and how excited we were. A couple minutes later, my mom came in my room and opened my closet door.

"Are you ready?" she asked as she looked at herself.

"Just about, I just need my shoes and some extra stuff. You know, to make my outfit snazzier!" I laughed as I turned toward her. "Oh mom, your outfit is so cute!" I told her.

"Thanks." she replied. "Ok now get your shoes on, Nana will pull up any minute and then we have to leave." she told me again as she shut the door.

"Ok mom, I'll be done in a couple seconds." I told her as I was braiding my hair. I thought of new things I could do with my hair almost everyday. Today, the thought was a little braid off to the side of my hair with the rest down. It looked great! As I was putting the final touches on my outfit, I heard a horn honking outside the house. I dropped the brush on my dresser and ran over to my window. There was a light gold car with a brown top waiting behind the family's van.

"They're here!" my mom screamed before I could. "Do you have your shoes on Liz?" she asked for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"YES MOM! I told you not to worry, because I'm done and they are here." I said. I was actually lucky when I heard the horn; I was just putting in the last earring.

"Okay, come on! I'm setting the alarm." she was in the kitchen were the alarm was. Every time we moved houses, my dad wanted an alarm installed. My guess was that he felt comfortable with it because it would wake him up if someone was to ever come in our house at night. When I heard the alarm beep, I re-opened the door, and ran out to the car, leaving my mom far behind me. I went around the back of the car, opened the door, and jumped in the back, screaming with my cousin once I sat down.

"STOP SCREAMING!" my grand mom screamed over us.

"Sorry Nana. Hi by the way!" I said. I reached up to the front of the car, gave her a kiss and a hug, and then sat back down.

"OH MY GOD! Can you believe out wait is finally over?" I said to my cousin who was sitting next to me in the back seat.

"No, Not at all! I'm so excited!" she replied.

The night seemed to slowly pass by not going fast enough for my excitement. When the car ride came to go to the spectrum for the concert, my cousin and I exchanged looks to tell each other to hold in the excitement. By the time we found the perfect parking spot, we noticed we had lost it, we couldn't hold it in any longer. When we were almost to the door, we ran towards it happily.

"Liz, what if the path we are walking on now is what the idols used to get in?" she asked.

"Then we are walking in the idols footsteps." I laughed.

"Now hold on girls." said my grand mom. "You need your tickets." she said handing us a ticket each.

When the ticket was in our reach, we jumped up and down screaming.

"THIS IS THE ACTUAL TICKET TO GET US IN!" I screamed.

"ONLY ONE MORE THING TO DO THEN WE BEGIN!" Nena screamed back.

I let her lead the way. She happily ran to the ticket guy and handed him the ticket. Happily and excited, I did the same. Once inside the building, a wave of excitement filled us both from head to toe. We looked around, seeing lights, people playing games, people watching, people buying snacks, and people looking for their section. It was so noisy, but I was able to hear my cousin perfectly. Pointing out things that I had stupidly missed. As we walked towards our section, we saw a concession stand with t-shirts, programs, buttons, and posters for people to buy.

"Oh my god! Look at that blue t-shirt!" my cousin told me.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S PERFECT!" I said amazed.

As we both looked at the t-shirt, we heard a familiar voice that brought us back to reality.

"Hand me your tickets girls, that way they don't get lost." my grand mom said to us.

We handed over our tickets without a fight. We both knew that when we get excited, there is a chance that whatever we are holding at that moment will get dropped and lost. As we continued down the long and congested walkways inside the building, we continued to point out exciting things each of us stupidly missed.

"Right here girls, this is our stop." my mom screamed to us both.

"What? Oh…." we both said as we turned around and realized how far back they were.

"I guess we need to pay more attention right Nena?" I asked jokingly.

"You're right Liz!" she replied in the same joking tone.

We walked into a hallway that had a small line of people asking a girl where their seats were located. "Go down the walkway here and up three rows." she told a group of people that were in front of us. As we waited for our turn, we looked around and became more excited once we both saw the stage.

"I guess we were wrong if we thought it wasn't exciting in here before the concert starts right?" I said to Nena, who was right beside me looking over my shoulder.

"You've got that right!" she said.

"Hi!" said the ticket girl. "Are you guys excited or what?" she asked us.

"More than ever!" we both replied together.

"That's wonderful, who are you most excited to see?" she asked as she took the tickets from my mom.

"DAVID ARCHULETA!" we screamed.

"Oh, that's cool. He is going to be REALLY good I heard. Okay, what you're going to do is go all the way down to the bottom and show the girl down there and she'll guide you the rest of the way." she said.

"Oh, okay thank you." said my mom in a nice tone. She always used her nice voice when she was talking on the phone, people at work, ordering food at restaurants, or when we were at places like this.

We walked the rest of the way down and just like she said, there was a girl waiting at the end. She walked us around and we followed her. Soon enough we found our seats, and once again, waited. Where my cousin was supposed to sit was two seats down from mine but my mom and I both knew we did not want to be separated. After we arranged seats, we put our stuff down under our chairs and screamed again.

"Can you believe we're on the floor?" asked my cousin.

"No! Not at all!"

"Hey everyone!" said a voice over the speakers around the building. "How are you all doing' tonight?" asked the voice.

In less than a second, screams filled the very large room.

"Aww…. come on! I asked HOW ARE YOU ALL DOIN' TONIGHT!" he asked again.

Soon enough, same as 5 seconds ago, screams filled the room.

"Alright!" said the voice. "I want you all to say 'HI' to Mr. Poptart!"

Loud screams of "hi" and cheers began to rise.

"Now, who wants a t-shirt?" asked the guy.

As we looked up at the screens, we could see a man, and a HUGE, life-size Poptart running around people up in the stands, and down on the floor. When we looked back behind us, we saw white rolled up t-shirts flying through the air, and landing in some people's hands. Two minutes passed of flying t-shirts, music, and the giant Poptart dancing. Finally the moment came and we could both sense it. We looked at each other and waited for the question.

"All right that was a lot of fun right?" asked the guy.

The room lifted in screams. We were prepared for the next question as if we where going to die any moment if it wasn't asked. We looked at each other, grabbing each others hands, squeezing them to hold our screams and excitement in for what we were waiting for. Finally the guy ran up to the front where the stage was and opened his mouth getting ready to say something.

"ARE YOU READY FOR THIS SHOW TO START?" he asked.

It was impossible for us to hold on any longer, as we waited for the next question.

"Alright! Well see that curtain there? We need to make it drop!" he told us like he knew everything. "Only one thing will make it fall."

Soon after that, the whole room went from loud and full of screams, to dead silent. We both looked at each other with the same face, and knew what was coming. The moment we could do what we wanted to do really bad, and not get in trouble. It was time.

"WE NEED TO HEAR YOU SCREAM!" he said loudly.

This was it! We both looked at each other, then the stage, still squeezing each other's hand, and let out the longest scream that we could. As we watched with amazement, and screaming like never before, the lights went out, and the curtain dropped to the stage floor. But we then realized that just made us want to scream more. After what seemed like forever, we finally stopped screaming, and landed in our chairs next to each other, laughing at what just happened. When we heard the famous theme song to our favorite show, we stood up from our chairs and danced crazily and unstoppable. We were in heaven.

The beginning of the concert went by some-what slowly, but we still had fun. As we watched Idols ten through five perform, we danced, screamed, cheered, and laughed. We blocked out everything around us and only enjoyed each other, the music, all the fun we were having, and thinking about the people that were soon to come. When the first half was over, the lights came on as bright as the beginning, and we noticed that some point during the show that the curtain was moved from the floor. As we slowly came back to reality we could hear my mom calling us.

"Come on girls!" she screamed to us from the end of the row.

"Ok, coming right now." I replied.

We left our stuff hidden under our sweatshirts and under our chairs. When we felt comfortable with our hiding, we squeezed pass the people in our row leading over to my mom.

"How was that? You girls looked like you had fun." my mom said to us as she walked.

"How couldn't we?" asked my cousin from behind me.

"I know right?" I responded.

"Well, I'm happy you are having fun." said my mom.

"Fun?" said my cousin.

"A BLAST!" we said together. We looked at each other and started to laugh.

We walked along the crowds of people, stopping to let people out of their rows, and stopping to fight with someone about not getting out of their row. When we were half way up, I heard a familiar tune. I looked up to the screen and noticed my favorite contestant's Guitar Hero commercial. During the finale, the top two contestants got to make a commercial for the game. While laughing I showed Nena the screen and we were both laughing and following my mom. She turned around and asked us what was so funny. When we showed her the screen, she looked at us and told us we were crazy. We both said thank you and continued to follow her.

When we reached the top, the section we went out of had a bathroom in front of it and no one was there yet. We all ran in, quickly went, then went to one of the ice cream stands.

"So Liz, what kind do you want?" my mom asked as she looked for her credit card.

"Uh…. chocolate." I replied.

"Ok, Nena what about you?"

"Same, chocolate." she said.

My mom turned away from us, and to the guy. She ordered our ice cream, and gave it to us.

"I don't have a spoon." Nena told me, as if I didn't know.

"Why use a spoon watch this." I brought the ice cream to my mouth and took a bite. "TA-DA!" I laughed.

"Oh, I see." she brought the ice cream up and took a bite.

By the time my mom was done getting hers and paying the guy, she handed us both spoons.

"Here, try these. They might help." she said as she handed us both spoons.

We took the spoon, and looked around. We saw the concession stand we saw earlier when we first came in the building.

"Mom, can we go look over there?" I asked my mom.

"Sure, let me get some napkins." she walked over to the cart, got napkins, and caught up to us. "You each have $20. Liz, you have like $25." she told us.

"How do I have $25?" I asked confused.

"$20 from Aunt Sam and $5 from Aunt Stephanie." she told me.

"Oh okay." I turned back around and started to look at all the things they had. Nena periodically pointed out a few things to me and they were pretty cool.

"LIZ! IT'S THE BLUE T-SHIRT WE SAW WHEN WE FIRST GOT HERE!" she said excitingly.

I stared amazed that the shirt was still up for show. "I can't believe it's up there. I thought they would be gone!" I was so excited. That I was able to get any t-shirt there, including that one. "One problem Nena."

"What?" she asked.

"Its $35." I said upset.

"So, what's your point?"

"Remember, I only have $25." I said upset.

We both were a little un-happy at that point. Nena knew me like she knew a favorite song. She knew all the words to me, faces, voices that came with my emotions. She could tell I was upset. She gave me a hug, and tried to distract me. When we were about two people from the front of the line, my mom asked us if we saw anything we wanted. I told her my choice and then I explained how it wouldn't work.

"How much is it?" she asked looking up there.

"$35." I told her.

"Why can't you get it?"

"Cause I only have $25. I'm $10 off." I said.

"Do you mean the David Archuleta one?" she asked still looking.

"Yeah. The really cute andadorable and…" I stopped. Lost at the sight of the picture on the t-shirt. I realized my cousin wasn't trying to stop me so I figured she was gone like I was. We both walked over to the trash can on the side of the stand and finished our ice cream and waited for my mom.

A couple minutes later, my mom came over with a bag and her change in her hand. She walked over to a little stand that was clear and set the stuff down to organize her and put her change in her wallet. She walked back over to where Nena and I were standing off to the side of the lines staring unresponsively at the t-shirt. When we heard the screams and cheers begin, we snapped out of it and ran to our section. The good part was there were only a couple people in the hallway left so it made it easy to run. When we made it to our section, my grand mom was standing there waiting for us.

"Why didn't you go down to your seat?" asked my mom.

"Because, I wanted to ask Liz if she wanted to trade seats with Me." she said as she looked down at me.

"W-why-why would you do that?" I stammered.

"Because you can see so much better where I was. Plus you can go up to the side and touch their hands." she said.

It sounded great to be so close. In the first row, able to see so perfectly. I really wanted to be in her seat because I did have horrible sight. The best part was being able to touch their hands! Would I be able to touch David's? Would I be able to see his wonderful and gorgeous face? I looked over at Nena with a questioned look on my face. Her face seemed easy and straight. When I changed mine a little, a huge smile grew across, going from ear to ear, so did I. I knew right away what she meant. We gave each other a hug, and once again jumped up and down screaming. This was it, the last half of the concert. The moment we've waited for. Almost time to see who we wanted. As we walked down the steps my grand mom gave me her ticket and showed me where to go.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH NANA!" I screamed. I gave her a big hug over her shoulders and she hugged me back.

"Oh Liz!" said my mom. "Hold on, I have something for you." she reached into the bag she carried on her wrist and pulled out another bag. "Here, open it." she said.

As I opened the package, my grand mom was talking to the people she sat next to during the first half explaining who I was and that I was going to take her seat.

I opened the bag and pulled out a rolled up, blue t-shirt. I held onto the top and shook it, letting it unroll itself and the picture become visible.

"OH-MY-GOD! THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM!" I screamed and threw a hug over her. "IT'S PERFECT!" I showed it to Nena and she screamed.

"You're welcome Liz." she said. "Have fun, and be good. I'll see you at the end." That was the last word from my mom. She gave me a kiss and a hug and let Nena in to say bye.

"I'm so sorry Nena! I owe you one I promise!" I told her.

"No Liz, you don't. I want you to do this. Happy Birthday." she said as she gave me a hug.

The concert was for my birthday. Even though it was August now and my birthday wasn't until October, this was a present from my grand mom. I loved her for it. I finally let go, and they all went to their seats. As I squeezed past all the people, I saw the empty seat, and people who where waiting for me. I sat down, said Hi, and changed out of my one shirt and put on the other. It was so hot considering I had two shirts on. When I was done, the people who were sitting next to me started to talk to me.

"So, who are you're favorites?" the mom asked.

"Um… David Archuleta, Jason Castro. Michael Johns was pretty good." I answered.

"That's cool. We're David Cook fans." she said with a smile.

"Oh, that's cool." I responded. I soon remembered my t-shirt I had on. I took my hands and covered up as much as the shirt as I could.

The theme song started again. As the lights went down, screams had begun, including mine, and the people around me. In just a couple of minutes, the stage went from a shade of blue to pure black. Everyone waited for something to happen, every couple of seconds someone would break the silence with a scream or a cheer.

A few seconds later, the back screen started to light up and show that we had the top 4 people left. As they showed the number and a shadow of the person, I knew who it was. My grand mom's favorite was up now. I listened carefully to all the people around me listening to all the screams and to what people where saying. I heard, somewhere behind me, a voice that had to come from a girl about my age. Once I heard that, I felt happy that I wasn't the only young person who loved him.

"I LOVE YOU JASON!" I yelled from my seat.

He sat on a stool up on the stage playing his guitar and singing his first song just like he did on the show. He had the same smile and happiness that he always had. It always made me happy to see someone like that never being negative and always being supportive to the others around him. Maybe that was why my grand mom and everyone else loved him so much. As time passed I grew bored and tired with out Nena there. She always had a way of making the calm hyper and happy and un-settled.

As Jason ended, cheers and screams had begun. A couple people screamed 'I love you' one last time before he was out of sight. When he heard someone yell that to him, he would turn tot the side wave, and then the people would scream again. When Jason left, the next person came on the stage. She was in the top three on the show. So she was the third from last. Her music was a little different then Jason's. His was calm, inspirational, and soothing. Hers was up-beat and fun. Except for one song which was a clam, and a slow song.

When she ended her songs, the building filled with screams and cheers from fans. At that point, I had a feeling in my stomach that told me, my screaming time would come. Was the time really here? Could he really be next? Will my never ending waiting be over? All my questions where now answered. While she was talking, I was waiting, for the future words.

"I am honored to present to you, one of my close friends on and off the show. Give a nice, warm welcome to, DAVID ARCHULETA!" she said.

This was it. Finally, my wait was over. As she left the stage, screams that people gave her now faded into a distant yell. In less than a couple of seconds, she said her last goodbye, and walked off stage. As lights went down, from a blue and purple stage with a white spot light, all you could hear was everyone become absolutely silent. Two minutes went by, with people sitting in their seats, becoming impatient. I looked around the building and there were little spots of lights that seemed to be coming from cell phones. It seemed like a calming night sky in the summer.

After waiting and imagining, a dim light brought me back. At the very back of the stage, there was a giant screen that began to show colors of yellow, blue, and a light shade of green. The colors danced around and around the screen for a couple of seconds, making me wait for what I have been waiting for all night. The screen turned from the design of the last song and was replaced with a black outline of what seemed like a person on the right side. On the other, the number 2 showed inside a light blue circle outlined in white. When the time was right, the black figure turned into the most amazing picture I had ever seen. A baby faced looking teenager, with short spiky black hair, and shocking hazel eyes filled the black spot. The stage became a shade of purple light and filled with white colored smoke. Screams and yells, stronger than ever before, filled my ears and everyone else's. The back picture that was on the screen, had faded away and was now replaced with a clear black and little white dots that made it seem like a night time sky. Even soon, on the mini screens began to look the same way. The music started into a calm and easy piano sound. It sounded familiar to me, the song, the tones coming from the piano, and the easy way the keys played the sound. Where is he? Where is he coming from?

Up above my head, fan girl screams began. Every couple of seconds screams would start from a new height, with the people at the top starting. As I watched the stage, unwilling to take my attention off of it, I saw what I wanted. Rising up from my seat, and standing hypnotized, I could see the short black spiky hair I saw on the big screen. Rising more and more up it became more visible to me what I was watching. A black piano rising from the middle of the stage with color, and the picture from the back, reflecting off of it making it seem like the shade of purple used on the stage and the star background used. In the seat behind the piano was the baby faced looking teenager, with the wonderful black hair, and the beautiful shocking hazel eyes. I was still standing, unable to move or sit down; when he began to sing with the most amazing, wonderful, tense lifting, angel like voice that was so familiar to me. Quickly taking out my phone of my jean pocket I began to take pictures of this most amazing sight.

The first song ended with him holding a breath taking note, and leaving me in tears. The people around me were so surprised to see me like this and just decided to let me be. As he played the last note and sung the last word of his song, everyone around me began to cheer. Still filled with the little feeling of weakness in my legs, I cheered all the energy I had left inside of me. When the cheering calmed down, he began to talk with that angel voice.

"Hello everyone," he said shyly. "How are you all doing?"

Screams filled the building, along with mine.

"That's good. Are you enjoying yourselves?" he asked still a little shy.

I realized right way when he grabbed the microphone he would be shy and nervous performing in front of so many people. On the show, they always sung in front of hundreds of people in the theater, and millions of people at home watching on T.V. But he never got used to so many people around.

"Well, we've worked hard on this tour for you guys," he said. "It makes us so happy to see all of you give us your support through out the show and during the tour. We just want to say thank you." he turned around and headed up the flight of stairs in the back. Was that it? He only sings one song? Now I was upset. Was that all he planned on singing tonight? After all the waiting I did? But, in a couple of quick seconds, I was proved wrong.

As I watched him sing like an angel, I became unresponsive to everything around me. My family and Mom especially, have noticed that when I watch something that I think is really good, my world and the people around me seem to blank out. This was, of course, was one of those times. The people next to me on the other hand, found out a way to talk to me. They told me before the second half, before the concert started, that when the idols come over I could walk over to the side and reach out to the stage and try to touch their hand. The only problem is it was hard to do. So many people would be there at once so you had to squeeze in as much as you could. The best thing happened that night. I TOUCHED HIS HAND!

As he was on the third song, I thought to myself that I never wanted this to end. But, eventually, it did. As he sung the last note of the fourth song, he thanked us deeply, and gave a mini speech.

"You guys don't know how special this journey and experience has been for me, and well all of us actually," he said sweetly. "We just wanted to thank you for all the wonderful support and letters, and watching us sing. Plus all the votes you cast. It means a lot to…." he got cut off.

"WE LOVE YOU DAVID!" screamed a group of girls from the other side.

"OH, GOSH!" he said turning red up on stage. "Thank you, I guess." he said. "Now, it's my honor to introduce to you, your American idol…." he was cut off again, but this time by someone else.

"THE REAL AMERICAN IDOL IS ON THE STAGE!" someone yelled.

I turned around to see who could have yelled it this time. As I looked and looked no one seemed to be cheering, just looking down at my row. As I looked up and down my row, people seemed to be looking at me, along with David himself. I looked up afraid to see his face, but it wasn't shyness, or a scared look. It was beaming with the happiest smile I have ever seen him give.

"OH, GOSH! Thanks a bunch guys this really means a lot." he said still looking at me.

"I LOVE YOU DAVID!" yelled someone from behind me.

"AWW….Thanks, now introducing… DAVID COOK!" he said once more, waving with a smile, and walked off the stage.

"I LOVE YOU SO MUCH DAVID!" I yelled, thinking he wouldn't hear me.

Turns out, I was wrong. He stopped once he wasn't visible to anyone and in a shadow. There was a mini light behind him, so it was possible to see him. He lifted up his hand pointing to me. I stood there sideways not watching the show, I paid attention to what David was trying to say to me. He walked to the side and came back out with a piece of paper and pen, but being careful and staying in the shadows. When everyone went up to shake David Cook's hand, he ran out, and handed me a white rectangular paper. On the paper it read…

_June 13, 2008_

_Hey, thanks for showing all the support to me and the others, I really love to know that people like you care! _

"_You'll never be lonely if you learn to befriend yourself."_

_David Archuleta_

Oh, MY, GOD! Did this really just happen to me? As he walked back into the shadow of back stage he turned again to face me. He slipped his hand into his pocket telling me to do the same. I folded the letter and slipped it into the pocket of my jeans. This was definitely going to be a night I would remember.

9


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As the show ended, everyone jumped out of their seats, and began to file out of the back door. The people who were sitting next to me asked me about my thoughts on the show that I just saw.

"It was amazing!" I said.

"Who was the best?" they asked looking down at my shirt.

"David Archuleta of course," I laughed. "Jason was pretty good." I said.

"Oh that's nice, well, it was nice meeting you." she said.

"Nice meeting you to." I replied.

After that, she walked away with her daughter leading her. In my jean pocket, shaking began. I reached in and pulled out my phone, it was my mom.

"Hey mom!" I said into my phone.

"Hey, where are you?" she asked me.

"I'm over by my seat still." I said looking for her.

"Oh okay. Come over to us, see me waving my hand?"

I looked around the gigantic room, trying to find a hand waving in the air. Now instead of a sea of people sitting down, there was a sea of people moving. How will I ever find her now? Suddenly, I saw a hand waving in the air, and my cousin standing on a chair waving her hands.

"I see you guys." I said into my phone. I hung up, and began walking towards them.

I grabbed my stuff from under my seat when I heard someone trying to get my attention. I gathered my stuff in my hands and looked around thinking it was Nena or something and asked to come over. But she was still standing on the chair, now looking at my mom. I looked around me to see if someone had to give me something I dropped. I slid my phone in my pocket and turned around to face the corner of the stage I had looked at twenty minutes ago. There in the shadows of backstage, stood the same beautiful teenager from before. Why would he want my attention? Was I in trouble for the dumb comment I made about him?

He motioned me to come over to the side of the stage. What did he want from me? I quickly thought of an answer, why do I care? This was amazing to me, David Archuleta calling ME! Of all the people here, I was wanted the most. This was a dream come true. I slowly made my way over to the side of the stage, very cautiously of course. He pointed over to the steps that where right in front of a gate where he could talk to me without anyone seeing. I made my way over, not knowing what to expect, and waited patiently. As I sat in my seat trying to wait for everyone around me to leave, I wondered what he wanted to talk to me for. A feeling in my stomach of excitement, and nervousness mixed as I waited. I didn't blame myself for the nervousness. I always get nervous when something surprising happens, which isn't often. I looked down and noticed I still had on my David Archuleta shirt my mom had bought for me that night. I dropped my bag on the floor, and quickly put on my sweatshirt and zipped it up to the top.

A few minutes had gone by, until finally, I saw what I was waiting for. David, walking out from the shadows, walked on stage, and down a mini flight of steps I had missed. He waved his hand to me acting like I wasn't watching his every move or where he ended. I slipped my hand into the jean pocket with the paper and held it there. I picked up my bag I had thrown on the floor from my sweatshirt and walked over.

"Hey." he said shyly.

"Uh… Hi." I stammered.

"So did you like the show?" he asked curiously.

Oh no! This was about my comment I had made! I felt so stupid standing there open mouthed, not having anything to say. Finally I found some words.

"I'm very sorry about what I said," I apologized. "Normally I don't think aloud. I'm quiet, unless I'm alone. I didn't mean to embarrass you." I said rather fast than I expected.

He just looked at me and laughed. My guess was that my expression and the way I had to think for 10 seconds on a response must have seemed funny.

"It's ok," he said. "I was actually thankful to hear that from someone."

I was confused. All the places they have been to so far, I would have thought that he would hear it a lot.

"Oh," I said. "Well, I guess than that…" I paused, not knowing what to say next.

"That it made me thankful and it reminded me again on why I am doing this." he told me.

I had nothing to say. I stared into those wonderful, and breath taking hazel eyes of his. I saw how more real they looked up close. I realized at that point how much I loved his shyness, and his singing voice. I looked down quickly noticing what I was doing. I felt a strong will to look back up at his face and see his reaction. I slowly looked up and saw the angel like smile, and wonderful eyes looking back at me. I stared into his eyes again, not able to control myself and see what I wanted to so badly to see. As I looked into his, I had a pair looking in my direction. I realized something else, standing there, in that position I saw how much I loved him. I felt a wave of energy go through me and a little chill tingling my spine. It almost seemed like at that point in time, David could read my thoughts. I quickly erased them hoping that if he could, he would be too late.

I looked down again and I heard a nice, calm, and lovable chuckle from David. I looked up, feeling my face go red, and my ears feeling hot, and saw the happiness he had inside of him. I sensed the presence of Nena close by. Keeping my hand close to my waist, I put three fingers down making it look like an 'M'. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her back up and turn around. That was the best part, we had all these different signs for all these different situations, and this time, I was proud to see it worked.

"So um… I was wondering," David said shyly. "If you wanted to keep in touch?" he asked in the same shy way.

"Sure, I think that would be great!" I said with to much enthusiasm. "I mean, sure." I said.

He gave out a small chuckle. "It's okay, I knew you would be excited." he said and pulled out another piece of paper.

"Wait," I said to him. "What about Jessie?" I asked him looking down at my feet. I didn't mind that I wasn't being answered. "I mean if you don't want to answer, then that's fine, I didn't mean to offend you." I said.

"No its okay." he said. "It didn't work out. She thought I wasn't around enough for her." he said in an upset tone.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I told him looking up.

He wrote numbers on the piece of paper using his leg as a little table. He handed the paper to me with a sweet smile on his face. "Here you go," he said as he handed the paper to me. "Call me tonight?" he asked looking into my eyes.

"Sure, but what time?" I asked. "Because if you guys are going to be on the road all night, I don't want to wake up anyone." I said.

"I think we are going to stay at a hotel tonight, so you can call me anytime between 10:30pm and 12:30pm. Is that ok with you?" he asked hopeful.

"Maybe," I said. "What about texting?" I asked.

"Sure." he said.

"Okay then, I'll text you later?" I asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great." He said smiling sweetly. He looked down at my arms crushed against my sweatshirt. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh… yeah," I lied. "Its just… uh… it's cold in here." I lied again.

"Yeah, sure." he joked. "Well, I need to go, text me later ok?" he said.

"Of course, talk to you later." I said and I turned around.

I walked over to where Nena was patiently waiting for me to end my conversation with David. I was happy that she didn't come and ruin my conversation.

"Hey Nena, thank you for waiting." I said thankfully.

"Your welcome," she started. "What were you two talking about?" she asked. "And why do you have your sweatshirt on?" she asked confused.

"I don't know, I was hiding my t-shirt from David." I told her. I handed Nena my bag, as she held out her hand. I unzipped my sweatshirt and took it off. I opened my bag, and shoved my jacket into it. After I turned back to Nena and put my bag on my back, my phone inside my pocket started to vibrate.

"Oh, I got a text!" I informed Nena.

"Oh, who is it from?" she asked looking over my shoulder.

"I don't know, the number is unfamiliar." I said confused. I pressed buttons on my phone until I got to my mailbox and opened the new text.

"What does it say?" asked Nena.

"It says… 'Nice t-shirt.' who is that?" I asked.

I thought on all the possible people who could have sent me the text. I reached into my pocket where my notes were and took out the second and smallest note. I matched the number on my phone to the number on the paper, and realized who it was from. A big smile grew across my face. I could feel my face turning red, and my ears turning hot. Nena looked at me confused for a couple seconds, and she realized what was so exciting. I turned around, expecting him to still be standing there, but he wasn't. Just the dark shadows of backstage.

"Oh," she said. "Do you know how lucky you could become?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Real lucky." I said kind of upset. I would do anything to see his face at that moment looking back at me, laughing at the situation he caught me in.

We decided to go back to my mom. It was still pretty crowded with people trying to get away from their seats and out of the building. It took us a while to get out of the hodgepodge of people, but eventually, we made it. The floor was a little easier to walk on. It was so much bigger than the rows in the stands. We decided to be smart and go behind all the rows and follow the outside. In a couple of minutes, we made it back to the seats, where my mom and grandmom were standing. I was so happy to see my mom again. It wasn't surprising to see her talking to new people. She had a little group around her all talking and laughing. My grandmom was sitting in the seat behind her looking around for me and Nena to return. I ran up to her at some what slow speed. I threw the biggest hug around her and thanked her.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CHANGING SEATS!" I yelled happily at her.

"Your welcome." she said calmer than I was. "So how did you like the show?" she asked.

"Oh my god!" I said to her.

I then I turned around to Nena and began talking about David's performance. "He was so good!" I told her.

"I know right? I have a video of him on my camera." she told me.

"Oh, what song?"

"The first one."

"Oh, you mean Angels right?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Oh My God! I don't know which one was better. They were all perfect!" I exclaimed.

Soon enough, to my excitement, my phone vibrated again. I pulled it out of my pocket, expecting it to be him. I was right. It was David with another text. I pressed the buttons on my phone impatiently, leading to my mailbox and opened the text. Once again, just like before, the smile returned across my face. Nena looked at me just the same as before and looked over my shoulder.

"Hi, It's David," I read. "What song did you like the best?"

"Oh no, that will be hard to give him an answer to, won't it?" she joked.

"Yeah, it will." I replied.

I started to answer David, but I didn't know exactly how to word my answer. Was it just one or all of them? Which song was the most amazing? Would I ever stop asking questions? I found answers to all my questions, except the last one. I decided to say all of the songs, which was a true answer. With David, there is no 'my favorite' language to speak of. David sings all songs like the pure angel he is. He has a way that appeals to everyone that makes them so happy, and he makes tension go off of people's shoulders. But, I wasn't going to send that to him. I was just going to say 'I liked them all,' and that's it. I sent the text with a smile across my face..

When mom thought it was clear enough to walk easily for Nana, we all picked up our stuff, and started to walk. We made it through the little groups of people with no trouble at all. When we reached the outside of the building, we saw a group of people running along a gate. We both looked up to my mom and Nana with a face that asked if we could follow. We waited as they looked at each other, turned to me and Nena and nodded with an okay. We gave them both hugs, and followed the crowed. We ended up standing where the idols were going onto the buses. Once we got bored of that and saw who we wanted, across the parking lot we saw group of people standing by the gate. We looked back up at my mom and nana, then at the group of people. They looked at each other once again, nodded and waited for the huge hug bound to come. We gave them the hug, and took off.

After minutes of fast running and dodging people going in the opposite direction, we finally made it to our destination. A huge group of people were standing around and looking at closed gates. Why are all these people around this gate? I saw people holding pictures that could have been bought at the stand I got my t-shirt, handmade posters, and pens and sharpies. I guess it was for signing stuff.

"Don't you have a sharpie Liz?" asked my cousin.

"Oh, yeah I do actually." I said.

In a couple of seconds, I began a bag search rampage to find the sharpie Nena was asking for. I remembered before I left, I had grabbed the one on the top of my dresser and put it into my bag. Where could it of gone? I stopped and thought about the pockets I could have put it in. The thing with my bag was it didn't have many pockets, there were only three total. I took one last thought before I remembered where I had put it. I looked into the medium sized pocket and sure enough, that was where I put the sharpie.

I took it out, gave it to Nena, and put everything back into the appropriate pockets. As I finally put everything back, there was a man who began to chant something over and over again. It was hard to hear at first until three people around him began to chant to. I looked at Nena, and she looked at me. We shrugged and began to chant along.

"WE WANT THE IDOLS!" We screamed over and over again and clapped our hands. "WE WANT THE IDOLS!" We chanted again and clapped.

Eventually, Mom and Nana got tired of waiting. They wanted to go, but we didn't.

"Come on girls, we need to go." said my mom.

"But mom," I began. "What if they come out, and we miss them?" I asked.

"Well, we all need to go anyway. Nana needs to go home, and we need to get home because I need to go to TJ's hockey game tomorrow." she told me.

"Okay Mom." I said.

We said good bye to everyone we were talking to, said good bye to the chanting man, and walked away. On our way back to the car, we shoved the sharpie into the pocket it was in before. We also made sure I had both notes and put them into a little bag I had found and zipped them securely in it. We decided to put my phone in there to, just to keep it safe. Before I had a chance to place it in there, it vibrated once more. I looked at Nena with a smile. I pressed the buttons once more that lead me to the inbox and read the message he sent. I grew happy to see he got my other text. The answer he sent me was sweet and simple.

"What does it say?" Nena asked me.

"He said he can't wait to see me when he gets back to Utah." I told her.

I never talked to him much, I was always shy. If I saw him in the neighborhood, I would keep my distance. If I was sitting on my lawn, and he walked by, I would jump up, and run inside or to the side of my house. My friends have always told me that I needed to be braver and get up enough courage to talk to him. I always agreed to them, but never really worked on it. Well, now was the point I could show them I was becoming braver, and I had perfect proof. I sent an answer, closed my phone, and placed it in the little bag where the notes where. I zipped it up and placed the bag in my purse. By the time we finished erasing the evidence off of my face that I received a sweet text from someone, we had reached the car. I pulled on the handle giving Nena a look to keep quiet, the only problem was, the door wouldn't open. Apparently, we had beat my mom and grandmom to the car.

"Can you unlock the car please?" I yelled to my nana who was well behind us.

"Nena! Come here they have the shirt you wanted." my mom yelled.

We let go of the car handle, and ran over as fast as we could. There were two tall men, with piles and piles of shirts in their hands, and a little pouch around their waists. I guessed that was where the money was kept. I noticed that they had tied shirts to their ankles and arms. I showed that to Nena, we both broke out into a laugh. I remembered all the years we went to these concerts and saw the t-shirt guys with shirts tied to them. We always found that amusing.

"So Nena, see anyone you like?" my mom asked. "Liz, pick out one for TJ." she told me.

"Oh, Nena. Find one for Bella." my grandmother said.

"Okay." we answered at the same time.

I looked through the piles of shirts with Nena looking for a shirt that TJ would like, and pointing out ones to Nena she might like. For Bella, that was easy, Nena found a pink one. It was Bella's favorite color. Nena had found one that had all these different colors in it. Sort of like a rainbow. TJ was easy to look for to. We found a black one. All the shirts had the top three and the American Idol logo on the front. On the back there was a picture of all the idols, all the top twelve. My shirt was different. It was a plain blue shirt, with a medium size picture of David's face and his name on the top with letters extending down and making a frame around the picture. I loved it, and the ones we chose for the others were perfect.

My mom and grandmom paid the t-shirt guy, and began to walk again. We began to walk towards the car, and look at the t-shirts, pointing out cool things, and things that looked weird. With all of our focus on the shirt, we didn't notice my grandmom's car dead smack in front of us and ran into the side. We pulled on the handle of the back seat, the door was locked.

"Nana," I yelled. "Unlock the car!" I yelled to her ten cars down.

The tail lights of the car flashed yellow and a little bit of red, and we heard a click from inside the car. We pulled on the handle again, and jumped into the car. Once we got settled into our seats, Nena took out her camera from the little case and pressed buttons. After a couple moments she handed it to me.

"What?" I said.

"It's him singing." She said.

"Oh."

I took the camera from Nena's hands and watched the video. It was so wonderful to watch, the only problem there was no sound.

"Hey, where is the sound?"

"Oh, there is none." she told me.

"Why not?"

"I don't know. You have to plug it into a TV or computer and sound comes out." she told me.

"Oh okay then." I answered.

We sat in silence for a couple of minutes while the camera played the video in silence. By the time the video ended, my mom and grandmom had reached the car. They opened the door and sat down. I was still speechless from the video I just saw. Any time I saw David sing, I was always speechless. I would never say anything for 30 minutes max. Maybe that was why people could always tell when I watched him. My grandmom started the car and began to drive out of the parking lot. I looked at Nena again and she lay down on my knee. I rubbed her hair and I drifted off to sleep. When I woke up my mom was quietly calling my name telling me we had made it home, I gathered my stuff from the bottom of the car. I said good night to Nena and my grandmom. I thanked her for the whole night and thanked her for changing seats with me for what seemed like the millionth time.

I opened the door and walked up the walkway. I turned around to wave good bye as they drove away. I looked across the street and there was David's house. There were a few cars in the driveway, and only one looked familiar to me. There was a shiny and new looking silver Ford SUV. I recognized it from the show, on the finale night when David Archuleta and David Cook both won cars. Ryan had joked with Archie about having his driver's license. I took one last look, and walked into my house.

I went up to my room, turned on my music quietly, and got changed. I settled with a pair of pajama shorts and my David Archuleta t-shirt. I hopped into bed leaving my music on and thinking about tonight. I then realized I forgot something important. I found my bag in the darkness, searched for the mini bag I had put my phone in and plugged it in so it could be charged. I decided to leave the mini bag in my big one so it wouldn't get lost. As I began to lie back down, my phone started to play the song I had heard so many times before when I got a text. I looked at the screen and noticed the number right away. A smile grew on my face as I pressed the buttons I grew close to tonight and opened my mailbox. My face and ears felt like a fire red as I read the wonderful and thoughtful text from David. He had told me that I should get to sleep so I could talk to him tomorrow and because I needed it. I responded to the text still blushing, and I set my phone back down on the side table where it stayed every night.

I soon lay back down and drifted off to sleep with a smile across my face and a dream begining.

7


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My night was uneventful. I received the full ten hours of sleep my mother likes us to get every night. I awoke from the most perfect dream I ever had. A few minutes after I fell asleep the picture became clear to my mind. I was at a news studio with David as he sung a new song he had written. He looked so professional standing there behind the microphone singing his song. When he was done the news anchor had asked him a few questions about his song. He had answered most of her questions but there was still one left for him.

She had asked where such inspiration came from for his song that was such a hit with everyone. His answer was nice and sweet just like him. He had said that it was for a person he had met from his older sister and became really good friends. She had made him really comfortable around people since he met her, and he has met lots of new friends. While he said all of this, my mind was racing with all the possible answers. The only person I could think of on the spot was the girl Jessie he had decided to take to his prom last year. When I first heard the song I had a feeling that he had written the song about her in the first place. The video was different. It had a blond instead of a brunet which was Jessie's hair color.

I found myself getting mad over my dream, so I decided to drop the subject for good and go downstairs for breakfast. I got up, grabbed a sweatshirt from the closet, grabbed my phone, and headed down. I could hear the TV on, my mom in the kitchen, and the dogs outside. When I walked down the first five steps, it sounded like my brothers were watching Sponge Bob, one of their favorite shows.

"LIZZIE!" my littlest brother yelled running towards me.

It was always funny to see my youngest brother try to run. He was a large kid for his age. His size wasn't like a normal four year olds, He was taller than most the kids in his class, and couldn't fit his head through most of the shirts he had, and always ate a snack and only wanted to drink apple juice. I loved him.

"Hi buddy! What's up?" I asked as I gave him a hug.

"We watching Sponge Bob!" he told me. "See the TV?" he asked me.

"Yup, that's Sponge Bob alright." I said.

I kept walking through the doorway leading from the living room to the dinning room. My mom was sitting at the table reading the news paper from yesterday. She always did that on Sunday morning. She never read it on the actual day because she was busy with work and three kids. Sunday morning was the best for her. She could sit down, have some hot tea, and read the paper or a magazine she received in the mail the day before. Another reason she liked Sundays was because she could go around the house to clean, get laundry done, and get us ready for school the next day and the week. I walked over to her and said hi.  
"Hi Liz, did you sleep well?" she asked me.

"Yes mom." I replied.

"Well, that's good. Are you hungry? There are some French Toast Sticks on the counter that just came out and you can have some."

"Ok mom, thank you." I gave her a quick hug and a kiss, went over to the oven, and took some French toast sticks.

I decided to go downstairs to play the Playstation2 before the middle child came home. Everyone in the house knew he was addicted to video games. If he lost a game or a level on one of the games, he would totally freak out. Which caused him to get in trouble most of the time. I got halfway down the steps, I heard his voice.

"Hi Liz!" he said to me.

I noticed he was in the t-shirt we picked out for him last night. It was so cool to see his face on it, next to David's was Syesha and David Cook who was the winner of that year. TJ asked me about my shirt and thought it was normal for me to have a shirt with just David on it. It turned out that my plans had been interrupted; TJ had beaten me down the basement and already was playing his game of hockey. I asked him if I could join in on a couple of games and eventually, I was added. We played four games before I quit. I had lost all of them with two goals away from having the same score. The games turned out better than I expected. I thought we would end up fighting over everything that was going to happen. The only thing we argued about was the teams. He always wanted to be the flyers, so I was stuck with some other team. Lucky for me, I had changed teams all morning and I eventually found a team with a good goalie that had blocked half of Tj's shots on the goal. By the end of the fifth game, I had lost practically all of them. The one game we had gone onto over time and he had some how scored, which ended the game.

"That was fun Liz. What to play again?" he asked.

"No. I'm done losing." I told him.

"I'll go easy on you this time."

"Well… Ok maybe just one more game."

The one more game turned into about five more. I won one of them and lost the other four. So I had lost 9 - 1, it was really sad. I heard my phone sing the familiar song, and do the normal vibration I had heard five times the night before. I grabbed my phone off of one of the shelves from the entertainment center and pressed the buttons that lead to my inbox. It was not who I thought it would be. It was my cousin who was also younger than me by one year. He had asked me how I liked the concert last night and bragged about the t-shirt he got. I responded with a good and cool. A few minutes later, he had responded and asked me what t-shirt I got. I told him about how my t-shirt was a solid blue color with David's name in white letters and framed the picture. He told me cool then never texted me again all day.

After playing random Play station games, my phone had vibrated and sung the familiar song. I pressed the buttons that lead to my inbox and realized the number. I gave a mini scream and began to pace around the room. TJ had looked at me with a face that told me he thought I was a crazy person for screaming at my phone. I told him it was from a friend of mine, and he went back to his game. David had told me good morning and asked me how I was.

"I…am…good…and…how…are…you…question mark…SEND!" I said as I typed the letters on my phone.

My brother had given up on trying on asking me what all the excitement was about and I told him not to worry about it. He seemed to like that answer better than an explanation. Apparently, I confused people when what I was saying made perfect sense to me. Maybe I spoke a language only blondes could understand. I laughed at that idea, I thought it was hilarious. I sat back down next to TJ and hid under a blanket so he wouldn't be able to see how red my face would be at that point. My phone vibrated and played the song, I could feel Tj's hands moving up to his ears so he wouldn't go deaf. I didn't blame him, but this time, there was no scream just a sigh of relief as I pressed the buttons.

He had asked me what I was up to today and I told him nothing much and asked him where he was going to be. He said that there was supposed to be another show in Utah tonight in the same building. He asked me if I wanted to go again and I told him I would love to but I didn't have anymore tickets. He responded that he would call me in one minute. Sure enough, one minute later, my phone was vibrating. This time it was a different song telling me that someone was calling instead of sending me a message.

I answered my phone very shy and weak sounding.

"Hello?" I said shyly.

"Hi Liz!" he said.

"Hi," I said. I loved the sound of his voice, it was so cute. "I don't have another set of tickets." I told him.

"Oh it's ok. My mom has two that were for my brother and sister but they went to Florida with my dad, so we have two extra." he sad.

"Oh ok." I was a little confused. Where was he going with this?

"So, would you and your mom like to go again?" he asked.

"Uh… Let me check." I said as I ran up the stairs.

I told my mom everything that David just told me. She didn't believe me so she had to talk to him. I put him on speaker phone so I could hear to. I decided to ask him questions that only he would know. My mom knew just as much as I did so when the questions got answered, she was impressed.

"Well, I really don't want to go tonight because I'm going to be busy." my mom said.

"Oh, she can go with my mom and my sister." said David on my phone.

"Well," started my mom. I could tell she was thinking. "I guess its ok."

Did my mom just say yes? This was awesome! I was going to see the concert with the Archuleta family! This was so surprising. I could tell David was excited to.

"Yes! Thank you… uh…what is your name? I'm sorry." he asked.

"Wendy." my mom told him.

"Thank you Mrs. Zebley." he said still a little shy.

"Thank you so much mom!" I screamed.

My mom was happy to see me happy. I jumped up and down and gave her as many hugs she would let me. She talked to David a little and asked what I was going to be doing that night. I was going to get picked up by his mom, sister, and of course David. He would pick me up around 4:00 because he had to be there early. They would pick me up, go to dinner, and head to the building. I was so excited for this, it was like a dream that everyone has and wishes it would come true. Well, mine would be coming true tonight when I get picked up. My mom had ended her conversation with Lupe, David's mom. She handed my phone to me asking me to hang it up.

"His mom seems nice. She is a little shy though." she said.

"I know mom. That is where David gets his shyness." I told her.

"What are you going to wear?" she asked.

I wasn't ready for that question. It was supposed to be warm tonight, so I would have to think smartly.

"I don't know." I told her. "But I'm going up in the shower I guess I'll think while I'm in there."

"You just took one yesterday." she said.

I shook my head so my hair would become really messy and look like I needed a shower. I heard her laugh and saw her shake her head.

"Ok, then. But you have like two hours till they come. Why don't you go back downstairs?" she asked.

"Mom," I began. "Don't you remember what happened yesterday?" I asked her.

"Good idea. So you go up in the shower and I'll come up in a couple of minutes to find you an outfit."

"Ok mom." I said.

I ran upstairs into my room, phone in hand, and began to jump around. I ran over to my clock and pressed the play button and David's CD began to play. The first song was Crush. The big song of David's, it reminded me of my dream the night before. I went back over to it and pressed the skip button leading to track number two. It was called 'Touch My Hand'. I loved it so much, that I knew every word to the song. I thought they were all so brilliant. I ended up stalling time with the CD and sat on my bed for one hour listening to all my favorite songs. When my mom came up she wasn't too happy to see me sitting there on my bed like there was no rush for me.

When I came into my room from the shower, my CD was playing the eleventh track, one of the good ones. On my bed was the outfit my mom had picked out for me. She had chosen my blue tank, white jeans, and my brown sweatshirt from last night, and a pair of nice sneakers. I got dressed, attempted to get my hair dried, and put it into a ponytail with some loose pieces on the sides. By the time I was done it was 3:40pm. Just enough time to add some accessories to my outfit. I choose my heart shaped hoop earrings, my heart bracelet, and my normal anchor necklace.

"Good." I said to myself.

When I was fixing my hair for the second time, my phone did the usual vibration and played the song when I received a text message. I checked the screen and it was from David. He was reminding me that they where coming at 4:00pm to pick me up. I responded to him with 'trust me. I know and I won't forget.' He replied with he would see me soon.

When 4:00 rolled around, the silver Ford SUV showed up behind my family's van. I grabbed my sweatshirt from my bed, my phone off of my charger, and grabbed my bag off of my door handle. I ran downstairs and standing outside by the car was my mom talking to Lupe again. When I was spotted by Lupe, she said a nice hello to me. My mom turned around to me with money in her hand.

"This is for dinner and a snack later." she told me.

"Oh… don't worry about dinner Wendy. We'll do that." said Lupe.

She had the same shy and calm voice that David had. It made me laugh a little on how much David acted like his mom. His looks came from his dad. It was scary to see how much David and his brother Daniel looked like their dad. The girls looked like Lupe. My mom noticed that right away and complemented on how they looked like her. Lupe was a little confused on what to say so she settled with thank you. David must have seen me coming out of the house because I could hear him arguing with his sister who was sitting in the back seat telling her to go in the far back. David was up in the passenger seat, turned around yelling. My mom opened the door to the back and they both became quiet. I looked at David as he looked at the floor of the car looking embarrassed.

"It's ok I can go in the back. I sit in the back all the time in the van." I told him. He didn't seem to upset that I had chosen the back seat.

I said good bye to my mom, and climbed in the back seat. When my mom shut the door, she said thank you to Lupe for inviting me to go. My mom waved good bye to us, and Lupe drove off. The beginning of the car ride seemed quiet, when David introduced me to everyone in the car.

"Uh… This is my mom Lupe, which I'm sure you know." he said.

"Yes, Hello Mrs. Archuleta. Thank you so much for inviting me." I told her.

"Oh… It wasn't me who invited you, it was…" She was cut off by David.

"And this is my sister Claudia." he said quickly.

"Hi Claudia." I said.

"Hi… David invited you." she said as she looked at him.

David turned around and shot her a look like he was mad at her for mentioning that. I was really shocked that David invited me. He turned around to face the front and looked out the window.

"Well, I don't know who invited me but who ever did thank you I guess."

"Your welcome." Claudia and Lupe said.

I could feel that David was upset. He didn't want me to know the reason I was in his car at that point in time. I took out my phone from my pocket. I thought that if he wasn't going to tell me verbally, then maybe he would tell me through words. When I was finished with my text, I turned off the sound so only the vibration would be on. I could hear him moving around to find his phone in his pocket. When he found it he pressed buttons that must of lead him to his inbox. He read the text, and started pressing all these buttons. I followed the normal routine to get to my inbox and read that it was him who invited me to spend time with him and his family. I thought it was so sweet he had thought of a fan that made a comment about him being the real American Idol winner. I responded with a thank you and looked at him. He pulled down the visor and when his mom asked, he said the sun was in his eyes, and opened the mirror. When his mom asked him about that, he said he had to check his hair. It was funny to hear that excuse because he didn't have hair to check. It was short and spiky. But most of the time it was a case of bed head.

He looked at me in the back seat as I shook my head back and forth, and then began to laugh. I could hear David's little laugh along with mine. A few seconds later, Claudia had asked what was so funny and Lupe wondered the same. David told them nothing and I was told to say the same. When the car stopped, we had reached a McDonalds that we were going to for dinner. Lupe and David got out of the car, and David opened the door to my side. He offered his hand to help me out of the car. It was taller than my van, so there was a possible chance I would fall. He happily helped me, as Lupe and Claudia walked in. Claudia turned around to look out the window to us and began to laugh. David gave her a look and she walked right in without another word.

When he shut the door, I asked him what made him invite me. He hesitated a little with the answer. He faked a cough I guessed so he would have enough time to think.

"I don't know." he said. "I guess, I saw how much fun you had last night…" he started.

I looked at him with a face that told him I wasn't falling for it.

"But, there were lots of fans there that you could have invited." I said.

"Yeah… but…" he was stuck. "I… guess…" I could tell he was working around the real answer.

"It's ok; you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." I told him. He seemed happy with that.

He shut the car door, and motioned to his mom that she could press the button to lock the car. When we entered the restaurant, there was a group of girls who screamed and ran over to David. They attempted to give him hugs, and shoved a napkin and a pen in his face. The strangest part was three of the girls in the group tried to kiss him.

"Who is this?" one of them said kind of cocky.

I was worried now. Was I going to get hurt because I was with David? What should I be prepared for? Should I hide behind him or should I stand there? I came up with a conclusion. I turned around so I could get out of the group of maybe ten or fifteen girls around us. As I was about to walk away, David grabbed my arm and pulled me around to where I had began.

"She's a close friend of mine." he told the group.

A close friend. What was he talking about? The group of girls had become smaller from fifteen girls to nine. Some how, the comment of me being a close friend of his made some of them upset so they left. The last mini group of people was harder to get rid of. But thankfully Lupe stepped in.

"David, Liz, time to eat." she yelled to us. As we where going to eat, the group of girls were leaving. I thought that was luck.

I followed Lupe and Claudia over to a table they wanted to sit at, but David pulled on my arm and brought me to a two person booth right next to their table. I decided to follow him and sit down. Lupe brought over our burgers and cups for our drinks then went back over to her table. David got up to go fill up his cup, I followed him. I thought it might have been a good time to ask if he was ok. When we got over to the machine, I was too afraid to ask with all the people at the same spot. I got my drink after him, and followed him back to the table. When we sat down I was about to ask him, but he beat me to it.

"Are you ok?" he asked concerned.

"I'm fine," I said. "Are you ok?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked as he took a sip of his drink.

"I don't know. You weren't too happy about the group of girls when we first got here." I told him.

"Oh that." he said. "No I'm ok." he said.

I was relieved he said that. I realized that he took the group better than I did. But he was probably used to them by now. He took out a piece of paper from his back pocket and handed it towards me.

"Here." he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a poem that I wrote."

"Oh ok."

I took the paper from his hand, opened it and read the poem. A few moments later, I was so shocked about what I just read. I couldn't believe it. Along with being a singer, adorable, and sweet, he was a poet? Was there anything else he could do that would cause me to be more in love with him? But I wasn't going to let him know that. I folded the paper back up and handed it back to him.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked looking into my eyes.

I quickly looked down at the table so I wouldn't get lost looking at them.

"Really good." I said.

"Why won't you look up?" he asked me.

"I don't know." I said as I lifted my head up.

It was exactly what I didn't want. To see his shocking hazel eyes starring at me. Now I knew that there was a chance he might be able to see what I really felt about him. He asked me another question as if the first wasn't enough.

"So, what do you think it says?" he asked. He had a pen in his hand like he was giving an interview.

I took a bite of my burger hoping to stall time for thinking. When I took the sip of soda, I answered easily.

"I think it tells about how you-…" he cut me off.

"No, not me. My friend." he told me cautiously, looking over at the table where his mom and sister were sitting.

"Oh," I said. "Well, I think it tells how your friend is trying to comfort someone after a breakup and is trying to cheer her up." I said.

As I was talking, David was writing my every word down on the back of the paper he had handed me just a minute ago. I wondered if what I was saying made sense, so I went on.

"And," I started. "It says that your friend is really concerned about this girl and is telling her that if she goes out with him then he will treat her better than someone else did." I said.

It seemed like David was a little confused to me but he had written down the point I was trying to make.

"I'm so sorry if I confused you." I said looking down.

"What do you mean? I wasn't confused, why would you say that?" he said.

"Well, most people don't talk to me because I confuse them." I told him.

"You don't confuse me." he said proudly. "I don't understand why you won't tell me one thing though."

"What is that? There isn't really interesting about me."

I was a little worried for what he was going to ask me. Sometimes I can hide the truth easily, but with David it would be a little hard. If I never looked up at his face while lying, I could lie possibly without being caught. But, if I looked up, there would be a chance I would freeze up and make it obvious.

"I want to know what you think of me as a person." he said.

This is what I feared. I tried my best to make it look unobvious.

"Well," I began. "You are a very nice person. You don't bring anyone down; you're more of an encourager. You know?" I said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I get that a lot," he said. "Anything else?"

"Uh… well, what else do you want to know?" I asked.

"Nothing. I'm ok now." he said looking down.

By the time the conversation ended, Lupe and Claudia had finished eating. We got up, grabbed our trash and drinks, threw out the trash, and refilled our drinks. When we got outside to the car, David told Claudia that she could sit in the front. She was a little confused about his offer, but she didn't question it she ran to my side and looked at me.

"I think he likes you." she whispered.

"How do you know?" I asked. I didn't understand how someone could like me. Especially David, he was so calm and quiet, and me the total opposite.

"Didn't you see him in McDonalds?" she asked. "He rarely ever wants to be alone with a fan. And, he never lets them read one of his new songs." she told me.

"Oh, ok well, thanks for letting me know." I said as I got into the car.

Claudia had sat in the front seat, and looked in the mirror so she could see David's face and my reaction. I tried to avoid the mirror as much as possible, because I knew that my face must have been a beat red. I could sense that David was feeling the same way I was, embarrassed, and a little worried if we felt the same way about each other. But then what if she was lying to me? Could that be possible for an Archuleta to lie? They are so sweet to others and could never lie to anyone. We drove in silence for a couple of minutes until Lupe; David's mom broke the silence.

"So Liz, do you have any siblings or are you an only child?"

"No," I said. "I have two younger brothers." I replied.

"Aww, how old are they?"

"One is eight and one is four."

"Oh, that is so sweet. Is the eight year old into anything?" she asked.

"Um, he plays hockey." I said.

"Oh that's nice. Are you into anything?" she asked.

I wasn't sure if I should mention if I play the clarinet. It's something I have been doing for years but I didn't want to seem like a band nerd to them, or David. But, I answered honestly.

"I'm in the band at school, I play a clarinet." I said.

"Oh really?" she said surprised. "I think that's wonderful that you're into music." she said.

"Thank you very much."

"How long have you been playing?"

"I don't know. Maybe around four or five years." I replied honestly.

"Wonderful!" she said.

We turned onto a road that looked familiar like I had seen it last night when I was riding in the backseat of a car. The only difference was that Nena wasn't here. I took a glance over at David and I noticed he was on his phone typing in letters. Sure enough those letters were being sent to me. I took out my phone from my bag, and pressed the normal buttons. The text had said to follow him instead of his mom and sister; he wanted to take me to some place I wasn't going to believe. I texted back with ok then looked back. He had a smile on his face like he was the happiest person ever. I turned back out to the window and noticed we had come into the parking lot. Lupe was going a different way, somewhat towards the back where the busses where sitting. She parked in a spot near the door off to the left side of the busses. There were six of them total and took up most of the back lot. The car's engine became quiet as she turned the key and took it out.

Claudia, David, and Lupe got out of the car as I unhooked my seatbelt. Before I could get my bag from the bottom of the car, David was outside of my door talking to Claudia. It seemed most like an argument instead of a conversation. I tried to listen carefully; I could only make out a few words. The most of them I heard were my name, don't say anything, and no I don't. I was guessing that she was bothering him about her thinking he liked me. The door opened as I grabbed my bag off of the car floor and took hold of his hand for help. Once my feet touched the ground, he shut the door and Lupe pressed the button to lock it. The car honked and we walked on.

When we made it inside, Claudia and Lupe went one way, while David pulled me a different way. We walked down the empty hallways for a couple of minutes until we came to a door that said stage. Where he was going to bring me was a place I would never forget in my life.

9


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

As we walked through the door, there was a huge room with doors, people, cameras, and all the other American Idols from the show. David had taken me back stage of the American Idols Live Tour!

"Oh My God, I can't believe I'm backstage!" I said looking around.

"Well, actually you're not backstage yet."

"Um," I said. "What do you mean?"

"You have to walk in so I can shut the door." He laughed.

"Oh. That's funny!" I said laughing.

I walked into the room so he could shut the door behind us. When the door shut, there was a group of people backstage who formed in a quick line in front of us. David introduced me to everyone.

"These guys handle the lights. You know the people who make the lights really cool and stuff." he said.

"Yeah," I said. "Good job guys."

"Thank you." the three of them replied.

David introduced me to about three more mini groups just like the light men. He pointed out a few important people that helps the idols find all the things they need for the show, and telling me a couple of names. I followed him around as he introduced me to other people.

"Hey," he said to a guy who must have been the director.

He said walking away.

Just then, a group of people in their teens or twenties walked in the room. I noticed them right away. There about ten of them who seemed to know David. I stood behind him hoping I wouldn't be noticed. Luckily, I did pretty well for a couple of minutes until David remembered I was here hiding behind his back.

"Oh guys," he said. "This is my friend Liz." he said.

"Hi." I said shyly as I made myself visible to them.

"Hello." The ten of them said together.

I easily remembered the people from last night's concert but mostly from the show. I noticed a couple of them who were my favorite from the show. I wasn't sure if they would ask me who my favorite singer was. Hopefully they got the picture that David was my absolute favorite. Some of them were comforting and asked me how I was and what I thought of being back stage. I answered simply. I didn't know if they wanted to hear everything that was on my mind at that moment in time. I decided to keep all my huge answers when they felt like talking to me alone. When the idols had to leave to get ready, David had told me I could go get a snack or get a drink. He gave me a smile and walked away.

I stood there for a couple of seconds, not knowing what to do. I heard someone call my name and I jerked my head over to where I heard it come from. I looked over to one of the doors leading to dressing rooms, and noticed one of the idols calling me over, inviting me to come inside her room. I wasn't sure if she was talking to me or not so I pointed my finger to my chest, making sure she was talking to me. Sure enough, she was. I walked over to her door and where she was standing.

"Hi," she said. "Want to come in and talk?" she asked.

"Sure," I said. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely!" she said as she turned around into her room.

I walked into the room a couple of feet before I shut the door behind me. Her dressing room was amazing to me; it was half the size of my bedroom. It had light green and baby blue striped wallpaper and a little TV in the top corner resting on a holder that connected to the ceiling and the walls. She motioned me to sit down on a near by chair, I took her offer and sat down. She sat down on a director looking chair and turned to her mirror so she could finish. I noticed she had looked over at me through her mirror.

"So, how are you?" she asked.

I answered shyly. "Good, how about you?" I asked to be polite.

"Can't complain, what do you think about being backstage?"

"It's awesome! I think it's one of the coolest things ever." I said.

"Well, that's good. So David invited you right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Oh nothing, just making sure." she said.

"Does he do it often or something?"

"No actually. This is the first; he seems a lot happier since yesterday. I guess just meeting you made him happy or something."

I sort of understood what she was saying. It seemed like before he met me he wasn't as happy but now that he talked to me last night and invited me means a lot to him.

"So, what you're saying is that when he first talked to me last night, he became happier?" I clarified.

"Yeah, just about that." she said.

I thought that was probably one of the sweetest things someone had ever told me. I felt really good to know that he felt that way. I realized right there why he acted the way he did that afternoon, offering the front seat to Claudia instead of having the normal argument, helping me out of the car, and bringing me backstage. To me, this was one of the sweetest things.

"So, I'm like a good luck charm to him?" I asked.

"Yeah, that is what he sees you as."

"How do you know though? Could he be faking it?"

"Don't you remember all the other girls screaming to him?"

"Yeah, but there where people who were closer to him than I was."

"Right, but you said something at the perfect time."

The comment I made! I almost forgot! It was a blonde moment; I wasn't paying attention to what I was saying. I was messing with the buttons on my phone and I had lost my attention when he introduced David Cook. I guess I forgot I was at the concert and not in front of a TV screen like I normally was.

"But, it was just a little dumb comment I said. It was a blonde moment."

"True, but a blonde moment you may remember forever." she said.

"So, he likes me right?" I asked to be sure.

"It seems like it." she responded putting on her bracelets.

Kristy got up from her director chair and turned to me. I thought she looked wonderful in the outfit. She was in her early twenties and always looked good. She reminded me of my mom how she looked wonderful in every outfit they wore. I was amazed how much they looked alike.

"So, what do you think?" she asked.

"Perfect," I said. "You look great."

"Thanks, you know your really nice." she told me.

"Thanks for letting me back here to talk to you."  
"Don't let him know I told you." she said.

"It's ok, secret safe." I told her.

We walked out of the room, me leading as she turned off her light and shut the door. There were the first three people who went on the stage first. It was only 5:30 and the show didn't start for another three hours. I wasn't sure what they did to kill all the time.

"Ok people," said one of the directors. "Sound check." he said.

I looked around and saw the three people grab their microphones and head out onto stage. I stepped back so they had room to run around. The director looked at me with a funny expression and walked over to me.

"Hello," he said. "Who are you and how did you get back here?"

"Oh, um…" I began. "I'm Liz Zebley. I'm here with David Archuleta."

"Oh yes." he said. "We have heard a lot about you. You make him so happy." he said.

Just then, David had shown up behind the director. I noticed that he had changed from the red t-shirt and black shorts he had, into a dark grey suit and red sneakers. He looked at me with a smile on his face and put his fingers to his lips.

"BOO!" he yelled behind the directors back scaring him.

"Oh David, its you." he said.

He laughed. "Sorry about that." he said.

"No problem," he said. "I'll just go back to my job now." that was all he said, and walked away.

I looked at David as he spun around to talk to the director. The director had shaken his head in a yes form four times. I wonder what David was saying. I decided it wasn't my business and to go with it. Finally, David turned back to me. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a card that was attached to a lanyard, and holding it my way.

"Do you know what this is?" he asked.

"No." I said shaking my head.

"It's a backstage pass. Now you can stay back here during the whole show." he said.

He walked behind me with the pass and placed it gently around my neck. Once it was on, he lifted my ponytail and let my hair fall back into place. I wasn't sure what to say to him, it was one of the nicest things anyone has given me before.

"Thank you so much David." I said.

"You're welcome." he told me.

I was so excited that I flew my arms around his, giving him a gentle hug. I realized what I was doing and let go. I looked at him and he was glowing with a smile showing his white and perfect teeth, plus the perfect smile he had.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"It's perfectly fine. It's nice to have a hug from people." he said.

The director wanted them to go over the last song in the show once more for a sound check. The idols all went out to the stage and the director walked over to me.

"Come with me," he said. "We can go down there where the chairs are."

"Ok," I said. "So, just follow you?"

"Yes, just follow me."

I followed the director down a mini flight of steps that was on the left side of the stage. We walked down them which led us down to the rows of chairs on the floor. The director sat down about four or five rows back from the stage. I wasn't sure if I could sit down considering all the excitement I still had in me, so I stood. The musicians came out on stage and over to their instruments. The difference now was there was no screams to fill the building or the lights going out. I was still standing when the music started. One by one the idols began to appear out of the corners of the stage, and from the main stairs in the back. I watched amazed at how energetic and how easy they made it look.

When the first five came out that sung in the first half, I had a wonderful feeling like I had the night before. The next idol came out, following with number three. Then came the part I was waiting for. The feeling was just as strong as I saw her point over to her left and David became visible. I was standing there, still watching amazed at what I saw. The last thing I remember was the song ending and the director clapping with me following him a couple seconds late. Then they all began to leave off stage. I couldn't believe what I just saw, which was them going over a sound check. I wasn't sure why that was one of the most amazing things I ever saw. I would ask about that later.

The director called out a few idols to sing one of their songs from the show to make sure they sounded ok and that the microphone worked. All of them did. I noticed that the director called the idols by the numbers they would appear on the stage.

"Number three, you're up."

The third to last idol came out on stage and sung her song. It was just like last nights song, fun and energetic. Then, he asked for the next idol.

"Number two, your turn." yelled the director.

This was it. Number two was David. That much I knew, most of the others I didn't know. David's on the other hand, I did. He came out and the music played. I noticed the song right away. It was 'Apologize by One Republic.' I loved that song; actually, it was the only song I knew by them. The music started, and David walked up the main flight of steps and turned around. Before I knew it, he began to sing in that perfect angel way that I loved. I soon found myself singing along just like I was last night. One thing I was careful of was not being too loud and fading out David that would be horrible. Soon enough his song ended and I stood in my place amazed.

Number one wasn't a number I felt like watching so I ran over to the left side of the stage, the same one I came out of. I ran up them hoping to see David standing there. Sure enough, my wish came true. I saw David standing there looking at me smiling. I ran over to David and stopped dead in my tracks before I could give him another accidental hug like I did last time.

"Well, how was I?" he asked.

I said.

David gave another smile to me and turned back around to look out on the stage. I noticed one thing that everyone loved. He brought his tongue quickly past his lips and bringing it back into his mouth. The funniest thing about David was his lip licking habit. Every Archuleta fan noticed that he always had really chapped lips so he would wet them. Since then, for presents, the fans give him Chap Stick. It was one of the most amazing things about him. The other funny habit we noticed was he closes his eyes when he sings. We always thought that it was the most amazing thing ever. Then one of the mentors on the show told him that he needed to work on singing with his eyes open. Ever since then, he listened and that habit never came back. But, it would slip every once in a while. We still always loved him. He turned back around to face me; I tried to stop laughing at his habit. Luckily, I did just in time.

"So, what do you think of backstage?" he asked.

"I'm having a lot of fun," I said. "Thank you so much for inviting me."

And it was true. I was grateful that he decided to invite me of all people to invite me backstage. I still wanted to know one thing which was how he felt about me.

"Hey David," I said. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Here, come over here."

I pulled David over into a corner where no one would see us. I wasn't sure how to ask him. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of everyone around us so I thought it might be a good idea if no one was around or could hear us. By the time we made it over into the corner, I had nothing to say. I wasn't spending the little time I had thinking about what I was going to say. When we made it over I tried so hard.

"Um David, can I ask you something?"

"If you're wondering what everyone has been saying, then it's alright." I've been meaning to talk to you about that anyway." he said.

I said surprised.

"Yeah, I really do. I feel like I was really lucky to hear you're comment last night."

"But, it could have been anyone. Why did you pick me?"

"It's just, something about you makes you special and stands out from everyone else."

I was totally frozen. He kept telling me everything I heard from the idols I had talked to. Apparently, they knew David more than I expected. I realized that this explained why I was backstage at that moment. It was just like a dream come true for me. Every girl dreamed of going to a concert and watching David, then be called over to the side by him. It was amazing that mine was coming true.

"So, I really do like you. And I was wondering if you feel the same?"

I was so happy that the question finally came. I wasn't sure if all this was a dream or real life. I brought my hand up to my mouth and bit down on my finger and I realized I was awake and living every moment of this.

"Of course I do! I mean, you're so nice and calm and you sing perfectly."

"That's good. So, do you want to hang out sometime?"

"Yes, I would love that. But, don't you have the concert and everything?"

That would probably be the hardest. I wasn't sure how we would keep it going. My guess was he was going to put all the trust into our phones. I was hoping that it was the case.

"I know we can work something out. I thought that was what texting and e-mail was for." he joked.

"That's exactly what I was hoping you would say."

David looked into my eyes for a few seconds. He brought me closer and wrapped his arms around me, giving me one of the most lovable hugs I ever felt. He loosened up on his grip and looked at me again. I stared up into his amazing hazel eyes that I loved. He looked into my eyes again without letting go of me. At that moment, all my surroundings disappeared as he brought my face closer to his. Then, before I knew it, two soft, and amazing lips were touching mine very gently. It felt like I was in heaven with nothing to take me out. Once I came back to reality, he had parted his lips from mine. The director had called all of the idols over to him for a little pep talk. He gave me one more hug and whispered something to me that I didn't hear. Before I could ask him what he said, he let go of the hug, and walked over to the building group of people. Right where I was, I sat down on a chair behind me. When I fell on the chair I wondered how long it had been there. I didn't care much at all. I sat there in the chair grasping my sweatshirt tightly in my arms, and thought about what had just happened about one minute ago.

About five minutes later, I had traveled from the chair in the corner, over to the snack table where bottled water and snacks were. I took a water bottle, a cookie and stood off to side so I could watch the show. The director called me over to where he was sitting and pointed to a chair next to him. I walked over to him and he asked if I wanted to sit down. I took his offer and sat.

"Do you know what these mini TVs do?" he asked me.

"No," I replied. "I'm sorry I don't."  
"Don't be sorry. What they do is you can rotate them around and watch the idols." he said.

"Oh, that's cool."

"Here try the one in front of you."

He pressed a button on the side of the TV camera and the screen filled with color. He showed me some of the basic buttons I would need.

"This one," he said. "The lever that allows you to rotate the camera letting you sees different views."

"Oh, ok." I said.

"Last button I promise." he joked. "This one lets you focus in and out with the camera. Did you get all that?"

"Yes." I said.

I spent most of the first half messing with the camera. It was really fun and easy to use. It took me one idol performance to get used to where all the buttons and things where located. As number five came off stage, I could hear all the people talking and the lights turning back on. The director called the idols over again for an 'end of first half' pep talk. Out of the ten idols, David was the easiest to see. I gave him a little motion to come stand over next to my chair. He nodded and walked over to me a little faster than a normal walk. When he came over he asked me what I thought and how much fun I was having.

"I love it back here. It's so much fun." I told him.

"I thought you would have fun."

"Well, most of the time I have fun places," I told him. "Trust me, little kids parties, not that much fun. They are actually really boring." I said.

"I know what you mean." He said jokingly.

The director began his speech and we were all quiet.

"Ok idols," he began. "We are only half way done this show. Five through ten you guys did a good job. Way to keep everyone hyper and pumped." He said. Then he turned to me. "Do you have anything to say?" he asked.

"No, I think you pretty much covered it all. Good job guys." I said.

"There you have it idols. We are both proud of you. You're dismissed."

After all of that, the idols all began to disappear. David followed the crowd of people but sneaked a look telling me to come along. I put my stuff on the chair, and walked after him. When I caught up with him, he reached down to my side for my hand. We walked a little until we reached a door just a little off from the stage. David opened the door letting me go before him. I walked into the room, and saw about four idols sitting on the couch or a chair. David walked in behind me and shut the door. I moved back a few steps so David would be in front of me. When he began to walk, I stayed behind him.

"Hey guys." he said.

"Hey David." the four said together.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked them.

David Cook was the winner of that season. It seemed like ever since he won, people changed their fan type. I knew people who weren't Cook fans to begin with, then after the finale, they all told me how wonderful and great he was and that they were wrong. I never was a huge fan of Cook. Not that he ever did anything; I just never was a huge fan. I always thought he was good enough to be on the show, but for me, he just never amazed me like David did. I watched the screen and watched him play. By the looks of the speed of notes on the screen it seemed like he was on hard, and beating it too. One of the idols saw me hiding behind David and asked who I was.

"This is Liz," he said. "You remember her don't you?"

"Oh yeah, I'm sorry I didn't remember. I'm Jason." he told me.

I knew it was Jason. He was my second favorite on the show. He was my grand mom's number one favorite. It was easy to remember him because of his hair and eyes. His eyes were an easy color of brown and always seemed to have a sparkle to them. One of the shows, the idols had to sing songs from the year they where born. Before they sung, they would tell a little about how they were as a kid and about the song they choose. That week they showed pictures from when they were a baby. He said he looked a lot like he did now except just littler and pudgier. But one thing he remembers most, was people telling him how cute his eyes were. His hair was a bronze brown that looked wonderful with his eyes. The one different thing about Jason's hair was his dreadlocks. They looked really cool on him and everyone loved them.

"Hello Jason. My Nana and I are big fans. Well, actually, she's a bigger fan then I am." I said.

"Aww, Thank you." he said.

"You're welcome." I said.

"Hello. You must be Liz right?"

"Correct." I said.

"Hi, I'm David Cook. But you can call me Cook if you want." He said.

There was a tall guy standing in front of me. His hair was normal. It was short, blonde, and had a little bit of black and brown in it. He held out a hand for me to shake. I shook his hand to be polite and looked at the TV screen. It said his score was huge. I didn't know you could score so high on guitar hero.

"Wow, you're really good." I said.

"Thank you. Do you want to give it a shot?" he asked.

"No thanks. I can't play for my life." I said jokingly.

David laughed at me and walked over to the couch. I followed him and sat down next to him. I rested my head on his shoulder and I felt his head on mine. He reached over to my lap for my hand and held it in his. No one seemed to pay attention to us which was a good thing for me because I really didn't want all the attention. Three minutes later, three more idols came into the room and sat down. There where two girls and a boy. I noticed the boy right away. His name was Michael Johns. I knew him because he was my mom's favorite. My grand mom liked him too, but liked Jason better.

"Hello." he said.

"Hi." I lifted my head up off of David's shoulder and let go of his hand.

"I'm Michael. You must be Liz right?" he asked holding out a hand.

"Yes. That's me." I said shaking his hand.

"Well, what do you think of being backstage?"

"I love it. I'm having so much fun." I said.

"That's wonderful."

He walked over to Cook, grabbed the other guitar and began to play with him. The two girls went over to the other couch near the TV and watched them play. I put my head back on David's shoulder and held his hand again resting for about five minutes. We heard a knock at the door. Jason got up to open the door and the director walked in.

"Are you guys ready for the second half?" he asked looking around.

"YEAH!" they all said.

"Okay let's go numbers four through one you're up." He said looking around the room trying to find everyone.

Numbers four through one, including me left the room and went over to the side of the stage. I walked over to my chair, removed my stuff, and sat down. It felt good to be back in the big chair. As Jason went on stage, I began to work the camera. Before he began, I asked the director why it wasn't working. Turns out, it wasn't on. He flicked a switch and the color came on the screen. I loved Jason's songs. I knew everyone of them because most of them he sung on the show except for one which I remembered from the night before. After four, came three. As she sung her songs, I talked to David to give him my own little pep talk.

"Are you ready?" I asked him.

"Yup, I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Are you sure you're positive?"

"Liz." he said.

"I'm kidding." I said jokingly.

I knew he was ready. He was ready for anything, especially when it came to singing. This was a dream come true for him. He had a chance to sing it on TV, but now, he gets to travel around the USA and sing to more people live. I knew he loved it.

"Number two! You ready?" asked the director.

"Yeah." he said.

"Go!"

David grabbed his microphone from the guy standing on a little floor where a piano was. David's first song was 'Angels'. I remembered the entry from the night before, it was really cool. The floor of the stage has a place where it rises. David sits at a piano and rises from the floor it was amazing. I played with the camera a little and focused it so I could see him perfectly. When David began to sing, I had the same calming feeling I had last night. By the end of the first song, I was in tears from his wonderful voice. Every song he sang, I sung along with him, and played around with the camera. When he was done, he introduced the audience to David Cook, and came backstage.

"You were amazing!" I said jumping down from my chair giving him a hug.

"Thank you. It means a lot." he said.

We walked over to the table of snacks. We both grabbed a water bottle, a cookie and watched the remainder of Cook's performance. When Cook was done, he came back stage for a few seconds to get some water, as number ten started the group song, the rest of the singers all went onto the stage. When David ran onto stage, I ran over to my chair and watched him the whole time. When the song ended, they all came back.

"Great job guys," said the director. "I'm so proud of you guys."

"Thank you." all ten said.

"Now, let's get out of here." he said.

All of the idols disappeared into their dressing rooms. I waited outside for David, when the same idol invited me into her room. I walked in. She asked me how much fun I had and asked me about my thoughts.

"I had so much fun."

"That's good. I'm happy you enjoyed it."

"Thank you for telling me about David. You were right."

"Well, it was easy to tell."

"Yeah, I'm happy that you were right."

She finished getting changed and asked me a few other questions. When she was done, I got up from the chair, opened the door to see David patiently waiting for me to show up. I loved how cute he looked standing by the door, not upset waiting for me.

"David!" I yelled.

He looked my way and smiled. I walked over to where he was standing and gave him a hug. I loved his hug. It was so warm and comforting. To me, David seemed like a stuffed animal.

"Do you have everything?" he asked me.

"Yes."

"We wanted to give you a gift." said David.

The other idols where in a mini group in front of me with a rectangle shaped present wrapped in blue paper. I took it from Cook's hands and held it waiting for an explanation.

"This was made by us." Cook told me.

"You will love it." said Jason.

I ripped open the wrapping paper to reveal a book. I read the title aloud.

To Liz Zebley from numbers one through ten."

I looked up at them all and over to David who was standing on my left. I opened the cover and there was a picture of me and the ten of them from when I first got there. I flipped through the other pages. When I got to the end there was a square with a caption that said the 'paper used for this present.' Cook took the wrapping paper from my hand, and stuck it down in the page so it fit into the square and closed the book, and handed it back to me.

"It was David's idea." he said.

I turned to David and gave him a hug.

"Thank you everyone. This was such a fun night and thank you for the present."

When I was done saying goodbye to all ten I turned to David, and we left. Lupe and Claudia where standing outside the door when we walked out. Lupe told me we had to move fast, or we wouldn't be able to get out easily. We walked out the side doors of the building and down to the car. David told Claudia she could take the front seat again and opened my door for me. When David shut his door, Lupe turned the car on and began to drive. A few minutes later of getting out of traffic, she asked me what I thought about everything.

"I had so much fun. Everyone was so nice to me back there." I said.

"That's good." said Lupe. "I'm happy to hear you had fun."

"It was the best night ever."

I heard Claudia giggle and look at David. He gave her a look and she realized what had happened. She turned around a little annoyed and looked out her window. I turned to look at David and he was looking down at his phone. I began to look for mine in my bag, and found it as soon as it began to vibrate. I pressed the normal buttons leading to my inbox and read the message.

10


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The next morning, was just like yesterday. I woke up the same time that I did yesterday, still getting the full ten hours I normally needed. When I came down stairs, TJ was the one who was watching TV.

"Hi Liz." he said.

"Hi. Where is Anthony?"

"He is downstairs playing the WII."

I knew we didn't own a WII. I wondered where in the world we got one. I guessed we borrowed it from someone. I had a feeling in my gut that we got it from, and I wasn't happy with my guess.

"Where did we get a WII?"

"Scott and Tyler."

Scott was one of Tj's hockey coaches. He had a son who played on the team. The mom, Cindy, was a really good friend of my mom's and the family. The have a daughter about Anthony's age. Scott always teased me about David. But, I would say something back at him to defend David. One time, he had called David a fairy. I responded with David being my fairy. It was so funny, when I responded with that, he had quit and gave up.

"We are going over their house tonight." Tj said not taking his eyes off the TV.

"Oh, really."

"Yeah, and they asked where you were last night."

"What did you say?"

This I was worried about. TJ always told people the wrong answer about where I was. I wondered what he said. If he said I was at a concert, it was okay. But, if he said I went to a concert with David Archuleta, then it was going to be bad. Then I would have to hear Scott ask me how it was last night and what happened. I wasn't ready for that; I had no comeback if that was the case.

"That you went to a concert with David Archuleta." he told me.

"How did you hear about that?"

"How couldn't I? You went around the house and screamed it all day yesterday."

"Oh, I should probably work on that then."

It was something I always had a problem with. For some reason I could never seem to keep quiet about things like that. I decided that I would just live with whatever he had to say to me, and defend David as much as I could. While I was sitting and thinking of what to say, the pocket of my pajama pants started to vibrate. I realized that I never got changed into pajamas last night. I figured that I was too tired to change so I must of feel asleep in what I was wearing. I reached into my pocket and took out my phone. I noticed the number right away. I got up, answered the phone and ran back upstairs.

"Hi David!" I said to my phone.

"Hey, how are you?"

I put the phone on speaker so it was easier to talk to him. He asked me about last night, made sure I had fun, and made sure everyone was really nice to me. When he mentioned the book I received last night, I began to look through it and started laughing at all the memories that were saved for me. I told David about my brother telling Scott about last night and what I would have to face later that night. I told him not to worry because I would always be there for him. When he had to go, I asked him if I would be talking to him later.

"Of course I'll call you later." the phone said.

"Good. I want to hear about the show."

"Don't worry. I promise I'll call."

"Ok, I trust you."

"Good. I love you."

I was so shocked that he said that. I wasn't ready. I acted like I couldn't hear him and he talked so fast that I couldn't hear him and asked what he just said.

"I said I love you." he said shyer than before.

"Oh, I love you to." I said.

"Bye." said the phone.

"Bye."

That was the last thing I said as I waited for him to hang up first. When I heard the click I pressed the button to my phone and sat on my bed for a little while and thought about everything. When I looked at my clock, I noticed I had been talking to him for an hour and a half. A wave of happiness and excitement fell over me. I felt like nothing could ruin my day or life. I wanted to tell Shawn about all of this. I dialed her number into my cell phone and waited for her to pick up. Once again, my phone was on speaker.

"Hello?" said her mom's voice.

"Hi, is Shawn there?" I asked.

"Yes, hold on."

I waited patiently for Shawn to get a hold of a phone. I grabbed the book and looked through it again. Finally I heard a noise like someone picking up a phone from the other line.

"Hello?" said Shawn's voice.

"Hey Shawn, Its Liz."

"Oh Hey. How was the concert?" she asked.

"The first or the second?" I asked.

"You went to two," she said surprised. "The idol concert."

"I know the first night or the second night?"

"I guess the first." she said.

"No, ask about the second one that I went to last night."

"Um, ok. Then how was the one last night?"

I told her about who invited me and what happened. She couldn't believe it at all. I told her about Lupe and Claudia, the idols, and the director. She couldn't believe I was able to operate the camera, I wasn't known to get how to work things like that. I told her about David of course. That was the most amazing part. I told her about the conversations with all the people about him liking me, and the conversation I had with David I had hidden in the corner.

"Yea and then he…" I stopped in the middle of the sentence.

"Then he what?" she asked.

"I… um… he…" I struggled.

"Did he give a?"

"Yeah." I said, easily understanding what she meant.

"Long or short?"

"A few seconds. He had to go onto the stage anyway."

It was always funny to our families that we could talk like that and understand each other completely. I remember when I first met her back in 6th grade. I remember my first thoughts about her. She seemed really smart to me. But as I began to talk to her, I learned a lot of cool things. She lived in England for three years, and picked up a little bit of an accent. I thought it was really funny when I first met her. We grew really close over the years. Now, we were entering 8th grade, we couldn't believe it. I told her more about the room in the back with the WII and guitar hero. We talked for another hour before she had to go. I hung up the phone and decided to stay upstairs for the remainder of the day. I went downstairs a couple of times for a drink and to check on the dog's food and water.

When the time came around, we were heading over to the Law's house. I had gotten changed before we left, but I still held on to the brown sweatshirt. When we walked in the house we greeted each other and said hi. Cindy let me go on the laptop and sit in the living room. I went on my normal websites and a half hour later, she came over to talk to me.

"So, I heard you went to the concert." she said.

"Yeah it was fun."

"So, what happened yesterday?"

"Well, I went again with some friends who had an extra ticket." I said.

I hoped the story didn't reach Cindy yet. I knew that if she heard it already then I would have to explain, and I didn't feel like doing that. But she didn't until Scott yelled from the dinning room where they were all sitting.

"You mean David Archuleta right?" he yelled.

He ruined it. Obviously she didn't know because she jerked up right. Luckily, I gave the conversation a lot of thought when I was cooped up in my room all day so I was ready.

"David Archuleta brought you?" she said really enthusiastic.

"Actually, Lupe drove us and Claudia came along."

"Who?" she asked confused.

"David's mom and sister."

Just then, one of the worst, my phone vibrated inside my pocket. I jumped from the vibration. I took out my phone and looked at the number. I excused myself from talking to answer my phone.

"Hello?" I said.

When I heard the response, I became really happy and everyone looked at me. My mom explained that David had given me his number and I gave him mine. I guessed that Lupe told her that yesterday when they talked on the phone. About a half hour later, I hung up the phone with a good bye and a love you to. I had Scott, Cindy and my mom looking at me. I guessed that my dad was downstairs fixing some problem between the kids. I decided to look down at the computer screen so if I was blushing, they wouldn't see.

"Why are you looking down?" Scott asked.

"I'm reading something." I lied.

I heard Scott laugh at me and Cindy telling me that it was really sweet. She asked me how this all happened, so I decided to tell her the story. She asked me what had happened last night between me and him.

"Nothing," I lied. "He just introduced me to everyone."

"Oh, that's cool."

She got up and went back over to the table. And I stayed on the couch and on the computer. A few times, my pocket would vibrate and I would give a little yelp and everyone would look at me. I never looked up because I was afraid of them seeing my face turn a beat red and realize who was texting me. After a while, they remembered the ring tone for text messages. Every time it would ring, I could sense them all looking over to me. I eventually turned off the volume to just a vibration. But eventually, they realized that every time I jumped, I received a text, and they would all look over. I decided to turn off the vibration and leave my phone where I would see it. It was easier to operate this way. I could always answer texts without anyone looking at me.

When dinner came around, the kids all sat at a table in the kitchen, while the rest of us sat in the dinning room. During dinner, I listened to all the stories and kept my mouth shut. I could feel under my chair and between my legs the book David and the idols gave me the night before. I was real careful not to let the book fall on the floor and make them all ask me what I had under my chair. I did pretty well until the end when the little girl Sara, asked me what the book was. I tried to hide up her question before anyone could think of what she said. This time, I wasn't as lucky as I hoped. Scott asked Sara what book, and I had my mom, dad, and Cindy all looking at me. I reached under my chair and grabbed the book. I held it close to my body and tight in my arms as I explained.

"The book that she is talking about is this one." I said.

"Where did it come from?" asked my mom looking at my dad.

"It's cute. Where did you buy it?" asked Cindy.

"I didn't buy it. It was a gift from a group of friends."

"Let me see." Cindy said reaching towards me.

I handed over the book to Cindy, and my mom moved over closer to Cindy so she could see the pictures and captions. As they flipped through they asked me questions about all the people and what they were doing. I tried to answer as best as I could and they understood what I was saying. When Cindy and my mom where done, they handed it across the table to Scott and my dad. When they looked through it I was still explaining what I did during the concert and intermission. When dinner was over, I went back over to the couch and back on the computer. I placed the book down next to me and kept going on the normal websites. I went onto my email and noticed there were two new messages. One was from Shawn and one from someone I didn't know. I tried to guess who it could be from and many people came to mind. I looked over the side of the couch for my bag. I eventually found it and pulled it up to me. I dug through it looking for the little bag from two nights ago. When I found it, I took out the little one with the phone number on it and matched the email underneath the number to the email on the computer. Just like I expected, it matched. David had sent me an email just like he promised.

I must have made it obvious that he emailed me because I had everyone at the table looking at me, and Scott asking what I was surprised about. I told them it was just a picture I found on Google images of a baby tiger. I don't think I was believed because Cindy got up from her chair and walked over. I quickly got up a Google images and typed in baby tiger and loaded the picture. But I still wasn't believed and she asked me about the yahoo at the bottom of the screen. I said that I always have a yahoo open and the emails weren't important. When she got up and went back to the table, I opened the email from David. He sent me a link to all these pictures he took at the next city he went to. I opened the file and looked at all the pictures and thought they were really funny. One was all the guys making funny faces and one with the girls doing funny faces. I was sitting there laughing at the pictures that he and I had everyone looking at me wondering what I was laughing at. I told them I was laughing at a joke someone sent me through email. Luckily, they bought it.

A few hours later, around 11:30pm we were ready to leave. David had text me about a half hour ago telling me that he was going to bed and he would talk to me tomorrow. I was so happy for him. I knew he loved to be doing this day after day. I gathered my things together, put on my sweatshirt and said goodbye to them.

"Well, I guess you get what you've wanted." Scott said jokingly.

"What?"

"Looks like David are finally your little angel now."

"SCOTT! That's not nice to say." I said.

"It's ok Liz. I won't let him tease you." Cindy said.

"Good. He shouldn't," I said jokingly. "People his height size."

"You are my height." he said.

I stood back to back with Scott and I had my mom and Cindy become two the judges. They voted Scott being taller than me. I turned around to Scott, as he shook his hand.

"To bad, now who are you going to tease?" I asked him.

"Still you." he said.

"Darn!"

I said goodbye again and walked over to the car and got inside. The car ride home was calm, same there. My mom and dad talked, while the boys on the left and right sides of the car played with each other, with me in the back seat watching everything out the window. A few minutes later, we reached the front of the house. I gathered my things, waited for the boys to get out, then followed them. I couldn't wait to get inside. I was so tired from the past two days. I felt like I didn't get enough sleep or something. But, I knew I received the full ten hours. When my dad opened the door, I let the dogs outside and went right upstairs to my room. The last thing I remember is plugging my phone into the charger, grabbing one of the throw blankets from the bottom of my bed and falling asleep, not bothering to get out of my sweatshirt or take off my shoes. In the middle of the night, I woke up once total to take off my shoes and go get some water from the bathroom. When I was done getting my water, I went back into my room and under the covers, gently drifting off to sleep once again.

When I woke up the next morning, it was different. There were no sounds traveling up from the living room to my bedroom. I guessed that TJ was down the basement playing the WII or Play station. I checked my clock and it read 9:00am.

"No wonder I can't hear any sounds." I said to myself.

No one would be awake this early yet. I got out of bed, grabbed my phone and headed downstairs to the basement. I ended up playing the Play station for an hour and not moving. One of the best games we had was a car game where you could choose the type of car and design it anyway you wanted to. The best part was you could go and drive on the streets and run into other cars and cause huge car crashes. It was a good way to get anger out, but half the time, I never knew what I was mad about, and that was the case today.

I glanced at my phone wondering when it was going to ring or tell me I had a new text message. I wasn't waiting long, until I heard it ring. I picked it up and instead of it being from the person I wanted, it was from one of my friends asking how I was doing. I told her I was ok and asked about her. She told me she was good and that she had to go, and she would talk to me later. When she was finally done talking to me, I went back to ramming the front of cars. It lasted for about another thirty minutes until TJ woke up and wanted to play the Play station. I handed the game over and went upstairs in the living room to watch TV. The only bad thing about TV in the morning is there is normally nothing on. I settled in on the couch with the dogs at the bottom of my feet and watched music videos from On Demand.

I flipped through the list of videos under each tab, looking for something to listen to. When I reached the "Hit List" tab, I only went down two pages until I saw a name that I really loved and was super familiar to me. I read the line that said 'D. Archuleta – Crush'. I couldn't believe it. I never thought they would put David's music video on here. I pressed the ok button and watched the video. I had seen it millions of times on the computer and memorized most of the words from the radio. But now, I didn't have to wait till next time I would be on a computer to watch it, I could just come right up in the living room and watch. I was so happy and surprised that I picked up my phone and began to text David. But, for some reason, I was beaten. As I was typing the message, one came into my phone from him. He told me that his video was On Demand. I giggled a little and replied telling him that I was just about to tell him that when he texted me first. He thought it was funny and wondered how that happened.

"Hey Liz, what are you doing?" TJ said.

"Noting," I said. "Just watching TV."

"Why is David on the TV? Did American Idol start again?"

"No. Not until January." I told him.

"Oh, then why is David singing his song?"

"It's his music video."

"What is it on?" he asked worried.

"On Demand." I said happily.

"Oh god. You're never going to stop watching It." he said.

"Oh well, live with it."

He turned around and ran back down to the basement. In my house, I was the biggest David Archuleta fan. Actually, I was the biggest in the entire family. Everyone tried to quiz me about his favorites, and I always answered correctly. I knew they didn't need their answers checked because I saw that they had gotten the answers off of the website I normally went on. The only two questions I was never able to answer where what hand he writes with and the type of music label he has. Everyone was always shocked to hear that I didn't know that. Sometimes just to joke around, people would ask me and I wouldn't know. I was always determined to find out though. When the video ended, I turned off the TV and grabbed the phone off of the top of the fridge. As I began to dial the numbers into the phone, my mom called from the other room asking who I was planning on calling.

"I'm calling Shawn." I told her.

"Why, you talked to her yesterday."

"No I didn't." I said defensively.

"Well, why don't you give her a break." she told me.

"I can't. It's like a major thing to do. If something important happens then we call each other." I said.

"What is so important that you have to call for?"

"David's video from On Demand."

"It can wait till Monday." she said.

"We are off Monday mom."

"Well, ok then. But don't go upstairs."

"Why, Anthony is already awake." I told her.

"Ok, go ahead."

I thanked my mom and ran right upstairs, into my room and called Shawn. We talked about anything we could think of for a topic. About music, school, each other, our friends, plans for weekends, and other dumb stuff. I never got in trouble for talking on the phone. My mom and dad learned that when I begin talking to someone, I can never stop. Half way through my conversation with Shawn, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket scaring me and causing me to jump up.

"It's just my cell is all?" I told her.

I looked at the screen and it said David cell. I pressed the buttons with Shawn asking me what it was.

"It's just a text from David saying that…" I stopped. I was to busy reading the text to realize I had Shawn on the phone still. "Oh, it says that he misses me is all."

I paused for a second to let her respond. Obviously she was too shocked to talk. When she got her voice back, she explained how happy she was for me and she understood how important this was. I thanked her and finished the conversation. When she told me she had to go, I said goodbye and hung up the phone. I kept it close by incase I wanted to call another friend. I decided I would and I ended up with the phone up to my ear all day, with time slowly passing. When I ended my phone conversations, I went downstairs to the dinning room to see my mom and brothers sitting at the dinning room table.

"Is it time to eat?" I asked.

"Yes, I was actually just getting ready to send TJ up to get you." said my mom.

"Oh, I came down just in time then." I joked.

I put the phone on the receiver and sat down on the opposite side of TJ and waited for mom to put the food on my plate. I was staring out the window rethinking my phone conversations like I normally do and I didn't realize Tj's stair until I came back to reality.

"Sorry Buddy." I said.

"Why were you staring at the window?" he asked me.

"Lost in thought I guess."

"Why do you do that?"

"I don't know really." I told him.

Mom came back to the table just in time keeping me from having to explain to TJ. I waited for my mom to finish putting the food on our plates and for her to sit down before I began to eat. When I finished eating, the phone rang again. I looked at the caller id and noticed the number.

"Mom," I said. "Can I answer the phone? Shawn is calling." I told her.

"Sure."

I grabbed the phone off the receiver and ran upstairs. When I was up the stairs, I answered the phone.

"Hey Shawn," I said into the phone. "What's up?" I asked her.

I paused to let her talk and waited for her to tell me what she needed to say. I made it into my room and sat down on my bed.

"I would love to hear a story from you!" I said real exited.

I listened to the story she made up and made little comments every once in a while. When I looked down at my clock, it read 10:00pm. I waited for a good time to cut her off to mention that we had broken our record of the longest phone conversation.

"Hey Shawn, we broke the record." I told her.

She asked what time it was.

"10:00pm! We finally did it!" we were so excited.

We were always on the phone with each other and always got in trouble for our hour or two long phone calls. This time, it had been four. I was surprised that neither one of us had been yelled at yet. I guessed that mom, dad, and the boys were laying down watching a movie in the living room, and decided to not bother me, which was a smart move. Shawn guessed that her parents had finally given up on trying getting her off the phone with me. Shawn continued her story until about 10:30pm, when her mom told her they needed to go to bed because of traveling the next day. I said good bye, hung up the phone, and placed it outside my door. I turned on my fan, turned out the light, and climbed into bed.

8


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My room had turned from a light shade of pink, into a shade of purple color. I guessed it was because of my curtains and the sun outside. I rolled over on my opposite side and glanced at my clock, 10:30am! I couldn't believe that I slept so long. Just when I was about to turn back over, my phone notified me of a text message. I gave a little moan and flopped back over. I looked at my phone and saw that it was from David. I un-hooked my cell phone from my charger and brought it up onto the bed. I read the message.

"Call me when you wake up… love David." I read aloud.

I felt so grateful and loved that he did that. I knew that it would make my day a lot better. Without getting up from under my covers, I called David just like the text had said to. When the ringer came on, I pressed the speaker button.

"Hello?" David's voice said.

"Hey David. It's Liz." I notified him.

"Liz? Oh no… wrong number." he joked.

"David! Stop that!" I laughed.

"Alright," he said. "I'll quit."

"Thank you." I told him rubbing my eyes.

"So what are you planning on today?"

"I'm not sure, I actually just woke up." I told him.

"WHAT?" he said surprised. "What time did you go to sleep last night?"

I thought about my answer first.

"Well, I hung up the phone with Shawn about 10:30pm, and fell asleep around 2:30am." I told him calmly.

"Liz, Liz, Liz…" he paused. "What are we ever going to do with you?"

"I don't know," I answered him. "Love me forever?"

"I already do, and you know that."

"Aww… thanks." I told him.

"Listen, did you eat yet?" he asked.

"No." I answered.

"Why don't you come over then? I'm home for a few days as a break and I want to see you again. I'm gonna make breakfast."

"I guess. I just need to get changed…"

"Don't worry about it, we are in our pajamas to." he told me

"Ok then, I'll be right over."

"Ok then, I love you." he said.

I paused. Did he just say 'I love you?' I loved it when he said that to me.

"I love you to," I said. "Bye."

"See you."

I pressed the button to end the conversation and rolled out of bed. I went over to my dresser and looked in the mirror. My hair was a little messy and I looked like I got absolutely no sleep the following night. I brushed my hair and put it up in a ponytail and fixed up a little bit to make me look a little better than I did from when I woke up. I grabbed my shoes and my bag, and went downstairs. I guessed that TJ had a hockey game so I really had no time to be back. I left them a note on the counter telling them where I was.

_Hey guys!_

_Sorry I wasn't awake but… you know._

_I'm over at the Archuleta's they invited me to breakfast and to just hang out is all. I have my phone so if you need me then text me or call. _

_Lizzie_

Perfect. I left it on the counter where I knew they would see it and left the house. I walked across the street to David's house and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Some one yelled from inside.

I opened the screen door and walked in.

"Hello?" I asked the empty living room.

"In the kitchen!" the voice yelled.

I walked into the kitchen and found Lupe by the stove.

"Hi Liz." she said.

"Hi Mrs. Archuleta." I said.

"No, call me Lupe." she said.

"Hi Lupe." I said.

"Hi." she answered.

"Hi David." I said to the person next to her.

"Actually, I'm Jeff." he said turning around.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" I apologized to him laughing.

"It's alright trust me. The others do it all the time." He laughed.

I felt a little better now to know that the others mess up with that to. I walked over to the breakfast bar in their kitchen and sat down.

"So, how is everyone?" I asked.

"Pretty good." Lupe answered.

"Where is David?" I asked.

Just then, David came down the stairs with a smile on his face.

"Hey David."

"Hey you're here." he said.

When David entered the kitchen I couldn't help but giggle at him and his neat hair. The only reason it was funny was if anyone knew David, his hair was always messy like a case of bed head.

"What?" he asked me.

"Come here." I said.

David walked over to where I was sitting and looked me in the eyes. I lifted my hand up to his hair and ran my fingers through it a couple of times.

"There," I said. "All fixed."

"Not just yet." He said lifting up one of his hands.

"No…" I said.

"Yes," He said messing up my own hair. "Now your hair is fixed." he said laughing.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" I yelled jumping down from my chair.

We ended up running around chasing each other, then cuddling on the couch watching TV until breakfast was ready. I waited to be told where to sit down. Lupe motioned me to sit any where I wanted. I chose one of the chairs in the back against the wall. When David came back out with the juices, he looked next to me and made a face that said "Is anyone sitting there?" I shook my head no and offered the seat if he wanted it. He nodded and sat down next to me.

Jeff went to the bottom of the steps and called the others to come down. A few moments later, I heard a bunch of footsteps on the stairs that sounded like a bunch of drums in a marching band. All of the other Archuleta kids came in the dinning room and sat down at any empty chair they could find. The Archuleta's always had people over so they had a big dinning room table and a lot of chairs. Daniel and Claudia began an argument about who was going to sit on the other side of me, Claudia had won. She sat down on the chair next to me with a smile across her face. David just shook his head and gave a little laugh.

"What?" Claudia asked him.

"Nothing Claudia, you're just funny sometimes is all." he told her.

"Oh." she answered.

We ate breakfast listening to everyone's stories and memories we shared over the past couple of days. When everyone was done, we all cleared the table and put the dishes in the dish washer. After we finished cleaning up, David invited me into his living room to play the WII. I agreed to join him, and sat down on the couch next to him. A little while later, David asked me if I wanted to take a walk around the neighbor hood with him for a little while.

"Sure. I'd love to." I answered.

"Ok then, Do you have your shoes on?" he asked.

"I never took my shoes off." I told him.  
"That's good. Let me go find mine and then we can go." he said.

I waited in the living room for David to come back down. Lupe and Jeff asked me about my family and the dogs. I told them that they were all good and the dogs were still learning a couple things but getting a lot of love. Just as I finished, David came down stairs.

"Why did you get changed?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I just felt like it." he told me.

"Oh." I said.

"I'll be back later." he told his parents as we walked out.

When we were outside and the door shut, I started walking across the street to my house.

"Where are you going?" he asked me.

"I'm going to go get changed." I told him.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, wouldn't it be a little freaky being seen with someone in pajama pants and a tank?"

"Why would they care?" he asked. "Because I don't."

"I know but still." I told him.

"No. You look cute." he told me.

He knew that when he played sweet I couldn't say no to him.

"Alright fine, you win again." I told him laughing.

"How does that always happen do you think?" he asked.

"I don't know." I lied.

I knew the answer; it was because of his cuteness. He must have known that I had a weak spot for cute stuff. If someone wanted something from me, they would give puppy dog eyes or give me a picture of David and I would agree to do what ever they wanted. He looked at me with a grin on his face.

"Alright David!" I told him.

"Why can't you ever just tell me?" he asked.

"I don't know." I said. "I guess I thought that it would…"

"Freak me out?" he finished.

"Kind of." I said.

We stopped at the end of the street where there was a little pond and stood there. He chuckled and placed his hands on my waist and looked me in the eyes.

"You are just so funny, you know that?" he told me.

"Why? I'm not that funny."

"Yes you are." he told me.

He kept his eyes focused on mine and brought me into a hug. I loved his hugs, they always felt nice, warm, and like he would be there to protect me. I giggled and looked down at my feet, hiding the beat red face I was sure I had. I felt two of his fingers touch the bottom of my chin and pushed it up slowly so I was looking at him. When I finally looked at him he pulled me closer almost like a hug, but instead he brought his face closer to mine and his wonderful lips met mine. I couldn't believe that this was happening. The last kiss he gave me was a couple days ago when he invited me backstage for the first time. When he broke the most perfect moment ever, I felt something hard below me.

"Ouch!" I yelled.

"Oh My God," he said helping me up. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, what happened?" I asked him.

"Well, when I broke the kiss you fell." he told me.

"Great! I'm an idiot!" I said.

"No your not!" he said laughing.

I let him help me get up off the ground. Once I was up on my feet, he put his hand on the lower half of my back and stood there just like last time. I looked into his eyes and they seemed to be filled with sparkles of happiness and love for every thing around him. We stood there in that position for a few minutes until he brought me closer to his face once more.

"You don't have to worry at all. I will always love you just the way you are." He told me.

I knew he wasn't lying, the tone in his voice told me that he meant what he said and it came from the heart. I looked down at the ground to hide my beat red face. I once again felt those two little fingers under my chin push it upwards so I was looking into his eyes again. I hoped that I wasn't going to fall again and seem like I had no strength. He seemed to know what I was thinking and held me closer.

"Want to try again?" he asked me.

"Yeah. One more try." I said hopeful.

A smile grew across his face and looked at me. He held me up a little off the ground and I felt his feet under mine. I looked down and noticed that I was correct. David must have placed me there so he could have a better grip.

"That is what I was planning on." He told me.

"Why though?" I asked him.

"Well, if you don't want to…" he started letting me down off his feet.

"No. It's alright, I was just wondering." I said wrapping him in a hug.

Once again I heard that light and cute giggle he normally gave at times like this. He brought me closer once again; I could feel his gentle breathing on my neck as he hugged me. He pulled away a little and came closer to my face. I closed my eyes and soon enough, I felt those two soft lips touch mine again. I wondered how long my knees would last before they went out. I could feel David trying his hardest to keep me up and off the ground. He finally parted and looked at me. I couldn't open my eyes but I knew he was smiling at me.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"What for?" he asked confused.

"I don't know." I said.

"It's alright." he said with a laugh.

I got down off of his feet and let go. He put his arm around my shoulders and started walking down the road. We talked the whole walk back about anything that came to mind. When we reached his house, he took a turn and headed over to his car. He motioned me to follow and opened the passenger door. I didn't bother to ask where he was planning on taking me, so I climbed in and put on my seat belt. I was only alone for a few seconds until the driver's door opened, and David sat down.

"Where are we going?" I asked him.

"To hang out and spend time with each other before…" he stopped.

"Before what?" I asked him.

"I really didn't want to bring it up today considering it is the last day we have with each other." he said upset.

"The rest of the tour right?" I asked him.

"Yea. They added a few more places so I have to leave tomorrow."

"Well, let's try to forget about it now." I said leaning towards the radio.

He stopped me and laughed.

"I'm in charge of the radio today." he said.

"Alright."

He messed with some of the buttons on the radio and waited. I sat back in my seat and waited for the music to start. Normally when he played a CD it was from his favorite musical _Les Misérables_. When the music started it sounded like something I knew. It was Crush! He was playing his CD, and I knew why.

"You know, you could have just put on any song and I would sing." I laughed.

"Yeah I know. And how did you know I was trying to make you sing." he asked impressed.

"My friends do the same thing." I told him.

"Oh."

The song started and so did the singing. We both sung the next two songs before he stopped the music and looked at me.

"You know what?" he asked me.

"No, what?"

"I don't know why you hide your singing voice." he told me.

"I don't know either."

He kept driving a little more before turning into a parking lot of a diner. I turned to David and looked at him confused.

"Uh, David." I said.

"Yes Angel?" he said.

I couldn't speak. Did David Archuleta just call me _angel_? I couldn't believe it. I sat back again and sat there. I tried to speak but no words came out of my mouth, only dumb little sounds. When I was able to talk, I sat up and faced him again.

"I'm in pajamas." I said.

"I know." he said.

"So, why would we be going to a restraunt?" I asked him.

"Why are you bothered?"

"I guess because of you and everyone else…" I stopped.

"My image?" he asked surprised.

I shook my head.

"Liz, if I wanted you to get changed, don't you think I would have let you go into your house the first time?" he asked.

I nodded again.

"Come on." he said getting out of the car.

I un-hooked my seat belt and climbed out of the car. David was standing at the front of the car waiting for me to come around. When I met David, he placed his hands around the lower half of my back and gave me a hug.

"If I'm not worried, then you shouldn't be ok?" he told me.

Some how, he always made someone not care about anything around them. I didn't know how he did it exactly but I knew he did. I nodded again and hugged him. He led me to the door and opened it for me. I thanked him and walked in through the first set of doors. Before I could open the other, David already beat me and was waiting. I thanked him once again and walked through. I stood off to the side of the door and waited for David to let everyone in. When he finally let everyone go through, and he came inside I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" he asked confused.

"Nothing.' I said.

"Then why are you laughing?" he asked.

"Just, you," I said. "I love how nice you are."

"You could have told me that the first time you know."

"Yeah I know."

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I've always had that problem."

"Oh." He chuckled. "Shall we go sit down and eat?" he asked me.

"Sure." I said smiling.

He walked over to the girl behind the counter and smiled. I wasn't surprised that David would smile at her; he smiled at everyone he talked to. The girl nodded, took two menus and started to walk down the walk way. When we reached our table, she turned to David and smiled.

"Is this ok?" she asked.

"Perfect!" he said sitting down.

"Can I get you guys anything to drink?" She asked.

"A Sprite please?" David answered.

She nodded and turned to me.

"Same thing?" I asked her.

"Sure." she said handing us menus. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

She turned and walked back over to the counter. I heard David chuckle behind the menu he was using to hide his face. I reached over and pulled the menu down to the table.

"I know this table." I said.

"You do?" he asked.

"Yeah, this is the table that you, your friends, and that girl went to when you guys sat at in your music video." I answered.

"Do you remember which video?" he asked me knowing that it was an easy question.

"Yeah, 'A Little Too Not Over You.'" I answered him.

"Nice job," he told me. "But, you know another video that was filmed here. I know you do because it's written all over your face." He said laughing.

"Yeah, Cook's." I answered.

The girl came back with our sodas and took out a pad from her pocket. "Are you guys ready to order?" she asked us.

"Yes." David answered.

"Ok. What would you like today?" she asked.

He ordered our food and looked up at her with a smile. She seemed to enjoy his smile and became frozen. I was just a little worried when she could finally speak again.

"Ok, I'll be back soon with your food." She said taking our menus.

I watched her go through the doors that lead into the kitchen. When I looked back at David, he had a smile across his face. We talked and laughed about the past few hours we had spent together. When we both finished, we both got up and walked over to the counter to check out.

"Did you enjoy your meal?" She asked.

"Yes, Thank you." he said handing the girl the money.

She looked at me and smiled. "Oh, is this?" she asked.

David looked up from his wallet, looked at me, then back at her and nodded. I looked up trying to understand what she was talking about at that moment. My guess what that she saw me as his girlfriend, which most people caught onto after a few minutes. I looked back at the counter girl who had a huge grin on her face.

"You know," she said. "You are so lucky to have David as your boyfriend. You couldn't have found anyone sweeter." she said.

"Thank you." I said as I felt his hand hold mine.

She smiled at us and gave David his change and receipt.

"Have a nice day!" she called out after us.

David, once again, held the door for me and a couple others. When he finally finished, he walked over to the passenger door and opened it for me. I climbed inside and sat down as he buckled my seat belt. Before he climbed down he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and smiled. I leaned closer to him and kissed him on the lips before any one could see. His face turned a bright pink as he climbed down and shut the door. When he got into the drivers side, he looked at me once again and gave me the same smile like he did when the counter girl asked if I was his girlfriend.

"You know that right?" I asked him, knowing that he knew what I meant.

"I always knew you did." he answered.

"Well, I was just making sure."

"You are the sweetest girl I ever and probably will meet in my life." he said.

I put my head down and looked at the floor to hide the redness I could feel. When David started the car, the CD began to play again and started with Crush. We both sung along to all the songs and had tons of fun. We drove around for a little asking each other questions about each other and our summer plans. I knew David had the American Idol tour to finish and I really didn't know what I was going to do yet. I thought that I would figure that out some other time. As we drove around the city, we stopped at a couple of stores to see what they had in stock. David had found this one hat that had dark brown and light brown strips, and a dark gray and light gray scarf that he bought. In another store, we both decided that new sunglasses were something we both needed because of the sun. To be silly, David found these glasses with guitars as the lenses.

"I dare you to buy them." I said laughing.

"Why?" he asked confused.

"They remind me of your guitar hero commercial." I told him

He looked at the glasses carefully and started to laugh. He accepted my dare, and bought the sun glasses. When we finished looking in some of the stores, David looked at his phone and decided that we should get back to the neighborhood. Once again, David opened my door, and helped me buckle my seat belt when I sat down. I noticed that as David was driving, he was trying to find a long way to get home. I knew by the look on his face, that he wanted to make that day last for ever.

"You don't want to leave?" I asked him.

"Honestly, No I don't." he said.

"Why not? You love to sing, don't worry about everyone else, I'll be there." I said to him.

"I'm not worried about them," he paused. "It's you I'm worried about."

I was a little shocked. Why would he be worried about me?

"Why are you worried about me?" I asked.

"Are you going to be able to be away from me for another two months?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, I hope so." I said to him.

Now I knew why he was worried. Two months did sound like a long time. I wasn't sure how well I was going to do with out him. Ever since I meet him the night of the concert, he was always there for me.

"I will always try to call you though." he said.

That made me feel a little better. I knew before that he would call me always but, just hearing him say it made it so much better. The rest of the car ride was quiet as we drove back to the neighborhood. I watched out the window and tried to imagine what it would be like without David there. I soon gave up on the impossible thought as he turned onto an unfamiliar street.

"Where are we going?" I asked confused. This was not the normal street we would take to get home.

"It's a surprise." He said with a smile on his face.

I looked at him with a puppy dog face hopping he would give in.

"Don't give me that," he laughed. "This place is a total surprise."

I sat back in the seat to show that he had won. A few moments later, he turned into a big driveway that lead up to the biggest house I had ever seen. Something inside me felt like I knew this house, while another part told me there was no way I could have ever seen it before. I looked over to David, who had a smile on his face, looking back at me.

"Does it look familiar yet?" he asked me.

"Not really. Why are we here?" I asked him.

"I forgot something inside and I wanted to see if you know this house." he said with a smile as he got out of the car.

I un-hooked my seat belt and got out of the car and met him at the front of the silver SUV. When I got next to him, he placed his arm around my waist and hugged me.

"I really hope you understand where we are." he said smiling.

"Can we go inside?" I asked.

"Of course." he said pulling his keys out of his pocket. "Are you ready to go inside?" he asked.

I nodded. "I've been waiting." I laughed.

"Good." he said smiling. "Come stand in front of me."

I did what he told me to do. I walked over to David, who had me stand in front of him so I was facing the door. He placed his hands over my eyes to make a blind fold. I stood still and waited for instructions.

"Now, place your hands on the door knob and open the door." he instructed.

I did as I was told. When I let go of the door, I still didn't move.

"Now, walk forward three steps."

I did that to. When I took the amount of steps, he stopped for a second. Without saying anything, I was turned around corners, down hall ways, and through a couple rooms. I kept my hands out in front of me just in case I ran into anything then I could catch myself. After what seemed like three minutes of blind walking, David finally stopped. I put my arms down to my sides and waited for his wonderful calming voice once again. I didn't have to wait long.

"Alright, are you ready for me to let go now?" he whispered in my ear.

"Yeah. I am. What is it you want to show me?" I asked impatient.

"This." He said taking his hands off my eyes.

I looked around the room and realized where I was right away. The cream colored couch, the coffee table in the middle of the room, it was the house where David sang the song for one of his music video.

"You brought me to the setting of your video!" I said real excited.

"So, you do know where we are?" he asked.

"Umm, yeah! It's like every fan of yours dream to be here!" I told him.

He looked at me and laughed. "Well, I'm glad that you are so happy." He said happily.

"I don't even know what to say about it actually." I said.

"Indescribable?" he asked.

"I guess you could say that," I said. "How did you know?"

"I just know you I guess." he said smiling at me.

I looked down at my feet and smiled. When I looked up, he was already in front of me. I looked into his eyes and saw the wonderful color of hazel they always were.

"Saw you from the distance; saw you from the stage, something about the look in your eyes, something about your beautiful face…" He said.

"In a sea of people, there was only you, I never knew what this song was about, suddenly know I do…" I answered.

I knew what he was saying. They weren't just words; those were lyrics to one of my favorite songs from his CD. I immediately thought of the days back in the summer when he first talked to me at the concert. I looked up at him again, and smiled telling him I understood. He smiled back and chuckled.

"Promise you will always remember that day." he told me.

"I promise." I said.

"With your heart?"

"I promise with it all." I responded.

I stood completely still and waited as he lifted one hand and placed it gently on my neck and he brought me closer to his beautiful face.

10


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

I woke up early the next morning and got dressed as fast as I could. I wasn't too happy with today, but I was ready for it. Today was the day David was leaving to finish the summer tour with the rest of the idols. I pulled out a box from under my bed and examined it to make sure it wasn't damaged at all. It was a little present I had for David, something for him to remember me by. When I was done, I slid the box back under my bed. My door opened and my mom stood there looking a little confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked half asleep.

"David is leaving for his plane. I need to go with them to say goodbye." I told her.

"Liz, don't you think that you are spending a little too much time with David?" she asked.

I sat down on my bed and slipped my shoes on and thought about what she said. How much time was I spending with David? I didn't know how to answer the question luckily, my phone rang. I jumped up and picked it up off the floor. David had sent me a text telling me that they were ready and I could come over when I was ready. I turned the phone to my mom and showed her the text message.

"See mom? He wants me to come." I told her.

She looked at me for a second and lightened up. Either the text or my face showed her that it was okay. She smiled and walked over to my bed and sat next to me.

"Listen Liz," she said still half asleep. "I'm just wondering if you go with them, it might be harder for you to say goodbye."

"Don't worry mom, David leaving won't hurt me that bad." I told her.

She gave me a hug and kissed the top of my head, then looked back at me.

"When you guys are on your way home, could you ask Mrs. Archuleta or whoever is going to drive to bring you to Nana's?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Because we are going to go over there anyway." She said.

"Okay. I'll ask them." I told her.

I stood up and walked to my door. I turned around to see if my mom was going to go back into her room, but she was already wrapped up in my throw blanket and laying on my bed. I smiled, shut the door, and walked out. Before I made it to the steps, I realized I forgot the present I wanted to give David. I put my stuff down and walked back in. Carefully, without waking my mom up, I dug under my bed for the present.

"What are you doing?" I heard my mom say.

"I have a present for David under here." I told her.

I found the present, and exited on the other side of the bed. I said goodbye again to my mom and walked back out of my room, shutting my door behind me and walked out side over to David's house. I knocked on the door and waited for someone to answer. When the door opened, I was greeted by David's brother.

"Good morning Daniel." I said.

"Good morning Liz. You know David is leaving right?" He asked me a little confused.

"I know. He wanted me to come." I told him.

"Alright then, come in." He said opening the screen door for me.

I thanked him and walked inside. I stood in the living room until he told me I could sit down. I talked to Daniel until everyone else was in the kitchen. David was the last one to come downstairs and into the kitchen. I greeted him before he could step foot on the kitchen floor. He looked at me with half a smile on his face. I knew exactly why he didn't look as happy as normal. It was always hard for him to leave. I knew that having me around wasn't going to help him leave, just make it worse. He must have known what I was thinking and shook his head.

"Is everyone ready?" Jeff yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Yes." we all yelled.

"Hi Liz," Jeff yelled down to me.

"Hi Jeff," I yelled back.

I looked back at David, who immediately changed the look on his face, and looked back at me. The next face he gave me was very different then the last two faces he had given me. I watched him to see what was so important and special he needed to show me. He walked over to the kitchen table, picked up his car keys, and smiled at me. I smiled back to show him that I understood what he meant.

"Hey Mom?" David shouted.

"What David?" she yelled back.

"Me and Liz are going to get a head start okay?"

"How?" she asked.

"My car." He yelled back.

"How are you going to get it back here?"

"Claudia." He said hopeful.

Claudia looked over to David with a puzzled look on her face, and then shook her head. David looked back at her without any kind of smile or anything, he just looked at her. I knew what he was trying to do. David had those eyes where you look into them and it's all over. Claudia leaned forwards, like she was going to fall, but caught herself before she did.

"Oh okay." She said a little annoyed.

"David? Did you use the look again?" I heard Lupe ask.

"No mom." He said real innocent.

I stood there by the front door trying not to laugh. I saw David's head turn to look at me and I quickly looked at the floor. I wasn't going to be pulled in by his eyes again.

"David, remember your plane leaves at 1:30pm." Lupe said.

"I know mom, I'll be there by noon okay?"

"Yeah, as long as you make it in time."

"Don't worry mom, I'll be there." he told her.

He took his bags from the bottom of the steps and walked out. I grabbed the other suitcase and duffel bag, and followed him. When we reached outside, he unlocked the car, and opened the trunk. He put his bags in and turned back around. He stopped when he saw me with the other two bags.

"How many times do we have to tell you that you are a guest and don't need to carry my stuff?" he asked me.

"Until I decide not to listen to you." I laughed.

He laughed back and took the bags from me.

"Well, thank you." he said.

"Welcome!" I said smiling at him.

When the bags were in the car, he shut the trunk and turned to me. He smiled at me, showing his wonderful teeth. His teeth were perfect! Always so white and sparkly, no wonder his dentist loved him. I could feel my knees getting weak. I sat on the bumper of his SUV, I could hear him chuckle as I looked up. I smiled back and stood up.

"Come on Liz, we should get going." he told me with the smile still across his face.

I nodded, unable to speak. I stood up and walked over to the passenger side door. Before I could open the door, he beat me to it. David was always so worried about who opened my door between the two of us. I really never cared who opened the door, but knowing that he always made sure that he opened the door for me made it better.

"Why, thank you David." I said in a formal accent.

"Your very welcome my love." he smiled.

I could feel my heart skip a beat when he said that. I sat in my seat and he shut the door. I could feel my face turn red and I looked at the floor. When he got in the car, I looked over at him. He started the car and began to drive down the street onto the road.

"Yes, you are correct." he said without looking at me.

Before I could ask him how he knew what I was going to say he opened his mouth to speak.

"You're not a hard person to figure out Liz," he chuckled. "I could say that I will love you with all my heart and you will turn red and look at the floor."

He was right. I could feel my face turning bright red. I looked down at my feet. I was really surprised that he knew I would do that. I wasn't sure how he knew, but he did. I looked back up at him and smiled.

"Okay," I said. "So you know most of my actions."

"Yeah. And I know that you will become really excited when you realize where I'm taking you." He said with the smile stretching across his face again.

I watched out the window for only a little while longer until I noticed where we were. I sat up straighter so I could see a little better. I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but I had a feeling that I was correct. When he turned onto the street, I gasped. I was right. He was taking me to the most wonderful place he could ever think of.

"The house," I said excited. "You brought me to your music video house!"

"I knew you would have noticed." He said laughing.

He turned onto the driveway and drove all the way up to the top. When he turned off the car I reached over and threw my arms around him. I really didn't want to let go of him. When he tried to pull away, I did let go.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"It's ok. I know how you feel." He said.

"Yeah, I kind of figured that." I said laughing.

We both got out of the car and walked over to the door. He pulled out his keys just like he did last time and opened the door. The only difference was that he wasn't using his hands as a blind fold. We both walked into the same room we did the previous day, and sat down next to each other on the cream colored couch. I placed the box on my lap and held it close by. When he realized I had the present, he looked at me with a puzzled look.

"So what is in the box?" he asked.

"Well, I wanted to give you a little present so you can remember me." I told him as I handed him the present.

He looked back at me and then back at the box. He started to slowly rip off the rapping paper, leaving only a little black velvet box. He looked over at me and I nodded my head that told him to open the rest. When he opened the little black box his face seemed confused. I could see a fake smile grow across his face. He removed the chain and looked at me.

"Do you like it?" I asked him.

"Yes of course."

"Don't worry there is more." I said.

He nodded and opened the black box again. Sitting there under the holder was a dog tag. He brought the box closer so he could read it better, and then looked at me.

"Thank you." he said with a smile, still a little confused.

"Your welcome." I said.

He brought the box closer once more and read it again.

"Is that Teddy's dog tag?" he asked me surprised.

"Yes. I asked your mom for it and she gave it to me."

"Liz, this is perfect Thank you." he said giving me a hug.

"You're welcome." I said hugging him back.

When we let go, he reached under the couch and pulled out a little box that was the same size as mine, and handed it to me. I looked at him with a smile and sat back again. When I started to open the present, I could feel his arm gently rest on my shoulders. I finished ripping off the rapping paper and came to a black velvet box just like the one I gave him. I looked up at his face, and noticed the smile he had. I looked back down and opened it.

Inside the box was a chain with a silver circle that had a cursive 'L' on it. I looked up at him and smiled.

"David, it's beautiful." I said real happy.

"Really? Because I didn't know if you would like it or not." he said.

"Well, don't worry because I love it." I said taking the necklace out of the black box.

Before I could put it on myself, he took it from me and unhooked it. His hands came over my head and in front of me. I guessed that he was going to put it on. I lifted up my hair and waited for only three seconds until he took my hair from my hands and placed it gently back on my shoulders. I turned back around to face him and looked into his eyes.

"David, thank you so much. I love it!" I said again.

"That's good because like I said I didn't know what you like or not."

"Well, this was a perfect choice." I said.

"Kind of like the choice I made about you?" he asked.

It took me a few seconds to understand what he meant. When I finally understood, I looked up at his beaming face and smiled. He wrapped his arms around me and gave me a loveable hug. I honestly didn't want to let go of him. I wasn't sure what it was about David but I just loved the way he would keep me so close to him and wrap his arms gently around me, it just felt so comforting and warm. When he let go of me, he brought his face closer to mine and sat there. I waited for what was coming, and I knew what it was. I could feel my heart beginning to race and my breathing becoming harder than before as he brought his lips up to mine. I was suddenly filled with excitement and calmness at the same time. Luckily for me, the calmness won. I soon eased up and my mussels relaxed as I stayed, locked with David. His hands were still on my back, with one going up and stopping at my neck, playing with my ponytail. I lifted my hands up and tied them in his soft and gorgeous hair. All I wanted from him before he left was a kiss goodbye that I would remember until he came back, and that is exactly what I got. After what seemed like forever, we both jumped and laughed.

"What is that?" I asked startled.

"My phone," He said. "I'm sorry it scared you." He said.

"It's ok."

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and answered it. I looked down at my new necklace and held the charm in my hand. I wasn't sure how I would be without him around. Now, was a perfect time to start thinking about ways I was going to spend the time. When he hung up his phone, he walked back over to me.

"Is everything ok?" I asked him.  
"Yeah," He said. "Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"I guess so." I said.

He took me by the hand and walked me out of the house leading to his car. When he got back on the street, he reached over to the radio and pressed the play button. I figured out what was in the CD player by the look on his face. When the first track played from his CD, he skipped it and went right to track two, which was my favorite. We both sung the song together with a smile across our faces. With out him knowing, I recorded him singing and saved it on my phone. Most of the car ride went by without us saying anything to each other. I really wanted to hear him talk before he left, but I understood why he didn't.

"So, did you figure out how you're going to spend the days I'm not here?" he asked me.

"How did you know I've been trying?" I asked surprised.

"It's written all over your face." he said with a laugh.

"I really don't know yet." I answered him.

He reached over for my hand again and held it tightly in his. When the third song ended, he pressed the next button to play the fifth song on the CD. We listened to the song quietly. I was still wondering how I was going to spend the days with out him and debated if the ideas I had would work or not. Most of them back fired and I had not a single idea by the time we made it to the airport. When we finally made it there, we were greeted by his family, waiting for us at the main door.

"Come on David." His dad yelled running over to the car.

"It's only 11:50 dad." he told him.

"I know but I still want you in there."

With out saying a word David and I climbed out of the car and helped Jeff with the bags. Before I could grab one, Daniel grabbed me by the arm and pulled me over to him.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Keeping you away, we told you before you are not allowed to help."

"Alright, I guess so." I said pout full.

Once all of David's bags were out of the car, Jeff and David ran inside and started looking around for David's gate. Lupe, lead the two of them around and I stayed behind with the other three kids.

"Are you going to be okay once David leaves?" Claudia asked me.

"I'm not sure." I responded.

"Well, we are always going to be there for you." Amber told me.

"Yeah, we live right across the street." Jasmine told me.

Each of the girls looked just like Lupe. They all had that tan skin and the pitch black hair.

"Do you girls really think that is going to work?" Daniel said from behind me.

Daniel and David on the other hand, looked a lot like Jeff. Except that David had that black hair. Daniels was a little browner, the same color as Jeff's. It was so funny to see how each Archuleta kid grew up to look like either Lupe or Jeff.

I walked along with the family, staying behind David and Jeff and next to the girls until we got to the gate. David sat down and I stood in front of him, waiting for an invitation to sit next to him. He nodded his head and looked at one of the seats on his right. I sat down next to him and looked at the girls, who sat across from me. David reached over for my hand and held it tightly in his. I laid my head on his shoulder and I could feel his cheek resting on the top of my head. I held my necklace tightly in my hand and I closed my eyes. We only waited a half hour before they started to call a bunch of letters of the people who could board the plane. When David knew his letter was going to be called, he stood up and said goodbye to his sisters, brother, mom and dad, then turned to me. He held my hands and held them up to his heart. I didn't know what to do at all. I knew that he would eventually have to leave, but I didn't know it was going to happen so fast. I was really going to miss that flawless face of his and those hazel eyes looking back and that wonderful sun shine smile of his. I could feel my throat getting tight and my eyes beginning to water as he looked back into my eyes. I quickly tried to wipe my tears away, but he wouldn't let go of my hands. He placed my hands around his neck and pulled me closer to his face. I could, once again, feel his soft and gentle breathing on my face as I stood there motionless. He finished the gap between our faces with a kiss. I was going to miss him so much. The tears started to become harder to keep from rolling uncontrollably down my face, but I tried my best. When he broke the kiss, I kept my hands locked around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"David, I don't want you to leave." I whispered into his ear.

"I know you don't want me to but, I have to." he whispered back.

"And I wish you the best of luck." I said letting go.

The next letter was called and the line of people began to form in front of the door. He gave one last hug to his mom and dad and looked back at me. The tears now started to roll down my face. I watched him as he waved once more and walked into the hallway leading to the plane. When he was out of sight, Lupe and the girls came over to comfort me as we all walked back to the cars.

"Liz," Lupe said shyly. "What car are you going in?"

I quickly tried to look like I wasn't crying and tried to answer Lupe.

"I'm not sure. But can someone drop me off at my grand mom's house?" I asked her.

"Sure. So that means your going to come with me?" She asked.

"I guess so." I answered.

She turned to Jeff and the kids, telling them to take David's car home and she would be back when she was done dropping me off. We all said goodbye and got into the cars. When Lupe was finally out of the traffic jam, she glanced over at me, who was looking out the window.

"Are you going to be okay?" She asked me.

I was afraid to talk because I was sure if I talked I would start crying again, so I just nodded.

"You're afraid you are going to cry again?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"That's why I wanted to drive you myself."

I looked over at her not understanding where she was bringing this conversation.

"I was the same way when David went to Hollywood for the first time, I didn't want to let him go." she told me.

I felt a tad better but, Lupe was David's mom. They normally don't want their kids to go away on a five month trip away from home. I was just some blonde girl who got lucky because of some dumb comment she made. Time passed by as the streets seemed to get more familiar as we passed them. When we reached the main road I showed Lupe how to get to my grand mom's house. When she pulled up to the house, she turned to me with an easy smile on her face.

"Liz, don't worry about him. He will call you." she told me.

I believed her one hundred percent. I knew that he would call me and keep me posted on the tour. My problem was that I was going to miss him a lot. To answer Lupe, I nodded.

"But like the girls said, we are just right across the street, if you ever need help just come over." she said.

"Thanks Lupe." I said as she gave me a hug.

When she let go of the hug, I said goodbye and I would talk to her soon, and climbed out of the car. I walked down my grand mom's drive way to the back door. Before I could finish my walk, I was stopped by Scott chasing after a hockey ball.

"Hey Liz." he said.

"Hi Scott." I answered him.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing. Just coming here."

"Who drove you?" he asked me.

"My friend's mom." I answered. I knew it technically wasn't a lie because David was my friend and Lupe was his mom.

"Who David's?" TJ said from the hockey net.

"Maybe." I answered.

"That was nice of her." Scott said.

"Yeah. They are all nice," I paused. "Where is everyone else?"

"In the back by the pool."

"Thanks." I answered as I walked over to the gate.

I absolutely loved my grand mom's house. Besides having a wonderful sized house, she had an in ground pool in her back yard. When I opened the gate, three kids climbed out of the pool and ran over to me dripping wet. I pulled off my sweatshirt and tossed by bag on the grass. Just in time, the three kids ran over to me wrapping me in the wettest hug ever. I noticed two of them, one was Anthony my brother. One of the others was a little blonde hair girl who was about Anthony's height named Sara. She was Cindy and Scott's daughter. The other little kid took me a minute until I finally knew who he was. He was the same height as the other two with the same blonde hair as Sara. It was Jay my cousin.

"Liz!" they all screamed happily.

"Hey guys," I said trying to sound as happy as possible.

When I hugged them all back, they let go running back to the pool and jumped in. I walked over to the table where my grand mom, mom, Aunt Stephanie, and Cindy were all sitting.

"Hi guys." I said sitting down.

"Hello Liz." they answered.

I stood back up and gave them all hugs.

"How are you?" my grand mom asked.

"Could be better." I said kind of fast.

"Why what's wrong?" my Aunt asked.

"Because."

"David left to finish the tour." my mom answered still looking at her magazine.

I turned back to Cindy and nodded.

"I'm sorry." She said giving me a hug.

"It's okay." I told her.

Just then, my phone rang. I let go of Cindy's hug and pulled out my phone from my pocket. David was calling me. I walked away and answered my phone.

"Hello?" I said walking over onto the grass.

"Hi Liz, its David." my phone told me.

"I can see and hear that." I laughed.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" I asked. I took my necklace in my hand and held it tight.

"Because I left."

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

"Okay, well I got to go we are about to take off." he said.

"Alright. I'll miss you." I said.

"I know I'll miss you to. But don't worry because I'll always be there with you and you'll always be with me no matter how far apart from each other we are." He told me.

I tried hard to fight back the tears. "Alright." I answered sitting down on the grass.

"Well, I need to go. I love you." my phone said.

"I love you to, and miss you."

"I know, I miss you to." he answered me.

"Bye."

"Bye." He said hanging up.

I closed my phone and looked at the clock. In just 10 seconds his plane would be preparing for take off. I counted down until zero. His plane was now gone. I wrapped my hands around my legs and buried my face. He was gone, he left. With out much more fighting, I let the tears roll down my face and land on my shirt. Some one sat next to me, I wasn't sure who it was.

"Liz?" she asked me. It was Cindy

I kept my head down.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded.

"What did he say?" she asked.

I lifted up my head and looked down at the grass. "He was wondering if I was okay and to say that he misses me and that I will always be with him and he will always be with me." I said letting more tears fall.

She wrapped her arms around me and pulled me closer to her. I buried my face in a towel she had hanging from her shoulder and continued to cry.

"I know your going to miss him, and that's okay," she said. "You know he will be back." she said.

"I know. But, I'm really going to miss him." I said again.

"I know you will. Come out of the sun you're going to get sun burn."

I nodded and stood up. I moved my bag off of the chair and sat down. I played with my phone a little and without knowing, I was in my inbox. I read all the messages in my phone from David that I never deleted. I fought back the tears again, and lost. I let the tears roll down and land on my shirt as I kept reading. By now, my shirt was soaked from my crying. Someone reached for my phone as I wiped my tears. Cindy took my phone out of my hands and exited out of my inbox.

"Reading messages he has sent you doesn't help your problem." she told me.

I nodded and looked at her.

"Liz, why don't you go swimming with me?" my aunt offered.

I nodded and got up and headed for the doors that lead to my grand mom's house. I walked to the far back and to the closet. I opened up my drawer and got one of my bathing suits. After getting changed, I ran outside and jumped right in the pool. The water was cold, but felt real nice. I looked around for my aunt, but couldn't see her. With out a warning, a huge wave came up over my head.

"I didn't hear you coming!" I shouted surprised.

"That was the point." she laughed.

We both swam over to the deep end and climbed out.

"Want to go off the diving board?" she asked.

"Sure." I answered following her.

We both jumped off the diving board until dinner was ready. When we all finished dinner, they all asked me what David was like. I answered every question they had with out any problems. When my mom was ready to leave, she asked me if I wanted to stay over Nana's.

"Why?" I asked.

"Well, so you don't have to see his house, and because we have hockey tomorrow morning." she told me.

"Sure." I said.

I gave her a hug goodbye and waved to her as she backed out of the driveway. When she was gone, I walked back down the driveway into the back where my grand mom was cleaning up.

"Need help Nana?" I asked her.

"No. I'm just about done." she said picking up her tea and newspaper.

I turned around and went back in the house. I walked back to the closet and picked up my clothes. When I was done getting changed for the second time, I found my grand mom on the computer.

"What are you up to?" I asked her.

"Checking my email." she said.

"Cool. Can I get on when you're done?"

"Sure."

I sat down on the couch and watched TV for a little until my grand mom told me I could go on. I sat down in the chair and opened my email. Just like I expected, Shawn had emailed me. I opened her email and read it. I couldn't help but shake my head and laugh. I replied back and shut down my email. I went on YouTube and other websites till 1:30 in the morning. I logged off, shut down, and lay down on the couch. It wasn't long before I fell into another deep sleep.

10


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next morning was quiet and still. The only noises I could hear came from the T.V. I left on last night. I lay on the couch and listened for my grand mom's T.V. upstairs in the living room. I grabbed my blanket off the floor, wrapped it around my shoulders, and walked over to the steps. Before I took the first step, I could hear foot steps. I looked up to see my grand mom with a laundry basket and a smile on her face.

"Good morning." she greeted me.

"Hello." I greeted her back.

"Did you sleep well?" she asked walking down the steps.

"I did actually. Did you?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I said with a smile.

I turned around and walked back to the couch. When I made it back, I could see my grand mom starting the washing machine and separating the dark colored clothes from the lights. I got up and walked over to the door way and stood there.

"What time are people coming?" I asked her.

"Around three o'clock."

"Why so late?" I asked her.

"Because the Law's are going to be here and your mom wants the boys to have a nap before they come." She told me.

"That's my mom," I laughed. "Always putting the boys down for a nap at least three hours long."

I was happy to see my grand mom laughing with me. When we went on vacations or if Tj had a hockey game, my mom would lay down with the boys and nap for a little bit. I slipped past her and walked to the steps.

"Where are you going?" My grand mom asked.

"Getting breakfast." I answered.

"Do you want me to make you some eggs?"

"Sure."

"I'll wait upstairs." I told her.

I walked up the stairs and sat on my grand mom's chair. I absolutely loved her chair. It was a big green recliner off to the right side in front of the TV. The best thing about the chair was it had a remote that made the leg rest come up and go down. The chair once belonged to her dad, but when he died, she took the chair and it became hers. I always knew the chair would be big help to my grand mom because after her knee surgery, it was difficult for her to get back up when she sat down.

I took the remote in my hand, and pressed the "up" button. The leg rest closed and the chair began to go upwards like it was getting ready for take off. I lifted my feet up and held them on the edge of the chair. When the seat couldn't go up anymore, all I could see below me was a green carpet that looked like grass.

"What are you doing?" my grand mom asked me as she came up the steps.

"Flying," I said in a sarcastic voice.

"You are so crazy." She said laughing.

"I know that. Believe me everyone tells me." I told her.

I slid off the chair and followed her into the kitchen. I walked over to the little counter and sat on it.

"So, how do you want me to make your eggs?" she asked me.

"The sunny ones," I told her. "And some toast please?"

"Sure."

I stayed up on the counter and talked to her about the up coming summer.

"I know you hate talking about him but do you know when he is coming back?" she asked me.

I honestly didn't like talking about his leave. I looked down at the floor and thought about the very last moment we had together. I must have been crying because I had my grand mom's arms wrapped around me.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." she said.

"No, it's okay. I should start answering anyway because I know more people are going to ask me."

"Okay then." she said going back to the stove.

"I actually don't know when he is coming back, I haven't heard from him for a while." I told her.

"Do you know when your-"she stopped.

I could hear my phone ringing from down stairs. I quickly glanced around the kitchen for a clock.

"QUICK NANA WHAT TIME IS IT?" I asked jumping down from the counter.

"10:30 Am." she answered.

"THAT'S DAVID!" I screamed jumping down the steps.

When I made it down stairs, I picked up my phone from the side table and answered it.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Is that him?" she asked me when I came back up stairs.

"Hello?" I answered again.

"Maybe he has a bad connection." she told me.

"HELLO?" I yelled.

"Liz, maybe he hung up." she said.

I looked at the screen and burst out laughing. My grand mom looked at me confused.

"I don't get it. What's so funny?" she asked me.

"He didn't call me. He sent me a text message." I laughed.

She laughed along with me and turned back to the stove.

"Liz, what are we going to do with you?" she asked me.

"Love me forever?" I asked her with a smile.

"Yes. We definitely will." she said.

I pressed the buttons to get to my inbox and read the text.

"Aw." I said.

"Who texted you?" she asked.

"David. He said he misses me and wants me to call him in a half hour."

"I guess he will always be there."

"I told you he was."

"Well, most famous people are different. Most of them are always full of them and never keep promises."

"Do you really think David is like that?" I asked really annoyed.

"Not any more." she smiled.

I stared at the message and replied.

"What are you doing?" she asked me getting two plates out of the cabinet.

"Replying?" I answered.

"Why?"

"Because when you get a text you're supposed to answer."

"Really?" she asked surprised.

"No not really. I thought I could use that as an excuse to text him back." I told her.

"Then stop texting him and let him finish what ever he is doing."

"You should have told me those wise words two seconds ago because I already sent the message." I said with a smile.

"What are we ever going to do with you?" she asked me handing me a plate.

"Like I said before, love me forever." I said jumping down taking the plate of food.

"I love you Liz." She said with a smile.

"I love you to Nana." I said going down stairs.

When I made it back down the basement, I took my plate over to the couch and turned on the TV. When I turned it on, it turned right to the morning news. Instead of watching my normal TV shows, I settled with the news.

"In Hollywood news…" the news caster said. "The American Idol tour is well on its way to all the cities around the U.S."

As she said this, there was a picture of the top 10 on the screen. With no trouble at all, I spotted David. I could feel my throat beginning to tighten. I fought back the tears as the news girl talked.

"Streaming up the blog discussions is 17 year old David Archuleta."

I fought back the tears and refused to cry. I could hear my grand mom coming down the stairs. I took a corner of the sheet I was sitting on and wiped my tears.

"Liz, are you okay?" she asked me.

"Yes. I'm fine why wouldn't I be?" I asked her.

"I thought I heard you crying."

"No Nana. I'm okay I promise you." I lied.

"What are you watching?" She asked.

"The morning news." I said proudly.

"Why the news? Isn't there a better show on?"

"No of course not. It's Tuesday, only little baby shows are on."

"Okay. Well, how do you like your breakfast?" she asked.

I then remembered that I had a plate of food sitting on my lap. I looked around for my fork and looked at my grand mom.

"It's really good." I told her with a smile.

"That's good. I'm going to go outside and turn the pool on."

"Okay Nana. I'll be in here watching the news okay?"

"That's fine. I just want you to be happy."

"Well, when he left that didn't make me happy." I mumbled.

"I know but put it this way, he is doing what he loves to do." she said with a smile.

"Yeah. I'm so proud of him." I said watching the TV screen.

"I'm going to be outside if you need me."

"Okay Nana." I said with a smile.

She smiled back and walked out of the room. I looked down at my breakfast and began eating. When I finished, I was a little bit happier.

"Nana's magic touch." I said aloud.

"Thank you." She said standing in the doorway.

I stopped in my tracks and looked up.

"Hi Nana." I said.

"Liz, I don't know how much longer you are planning to hide the fact that your upset that David left." she asked with a smile.

"Okay Nana, Honestly, I miss him a lot. It's hard to forget about him." I told her.

"I know Liz, I know what you mean. You really aren't yourself with out him around."

"It's like his one song Crush."

"How?" she asked confused.

"Because he has me so hypnotized," I laughed. "I just love him so much its hard to forget him."

"But, you have a wonderful family that is always there for you."

"I'm proud of that." I smiled taking another bite of food. "So who is coming to the pool today?" I asked taking my last bite of breakfast.

"You asked me this already. I told you everyone that was here yesterday." she said taking my plate from me and putting it in the sink.

"Aunt Stephanie is coming?" I said real excited.

"She is bringing Jay." she finished.

My Aunt was the funniest ever. She wasn't afraid to be herself around the family. She was a total kid at heart.

"That's cool, what time?" I asked.

"Well, she is going to be here a little early she will be here around one."

"Okay. That is all my questions." I said happily.

I walked back into the room and sat on the couch. My grand mom walked in behind me and pointed to the computer that was in the corner. It took me a minute to understand what she was saying, but luckily, I got it. I jumped up happily letting the blankets that were wrapped around my waist fall to my feet. I stepped out of the circle of blankets and ran over to her and wrapped her in my arms. When I let go I looked up at her and smiled.

"But you have to clean up first." she said.

"I promise I will." I said real happy.

I changed the channel on the TV to some random music channel and began cleaning up. When I was done, I looked over to my grand mom with a smile. She scanned the room, turned to me, and nodded. I hugged her again and ran over to the computer. As I waited for it to turn on, I watched music videos from on demand. I watched all my favorite videos except for David's. At the end of my fourth video, I decided to just watch it. I sung along to the words and watched the video with no problem at all. By the time the music video ended, the computer was up and running. I turned off the TV, and sat down on the computer chair.

"YOU GOT ME HIPNOTIZED, SO MESMERIZED, AND I JUST GOT TO KNOW…" I said.

I sung along to the music playing on the computer and danced around the basement. When the song ended I sat down on the computer chair once again and picked another song.

"THIS IS THE TIME TO BE MORE THAN A NAME OR A FACE IN THE CROWD I KNOW THIS IS THE TIME, TIME OF MY LIFE." I sang along.

"That's David Cook." she said confused.

"I know Nana."

"I thought you weren't fond of him for beating David."

"I know but I still love his song." I said.

I could tell she was confused just by the silence that followed my answer.

"I mean, he's okay. He is really nice."

"Is he? That's good."

"Yeah. He can be like a big brother." I told her.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"The concerts. Didn't mom tell you?" I asked her.

"No."

"David invited me backstage. I got to meet all the Idols." I told her.

"Really? That sounds fun." she said starting the washing machine.

"By the way, Jason says hi."

"Jason?"

"Castro. I forgot to tell you the other day." I told her.

"How does he know me?" she asked.

I explained the story of the first time I went backstage, ending to when he brought me to the house. As I told her the story, he kept looking at me with these surprise looks on her face. When I realized I was getting close to the kiss from the second night, I skipped over it.

"Did you forget to tell me something?" she asked me.

"No why?" I asked worried.

"I don't know. It just seems like you forgot something."

"Nope, I've told you everything so far." I lied.

"I would re-think that because your neck is all red." she laughed.

I looked down and she was correct, my neck had turned the bright red color it normally was when I was lying. I looked back up at her face and smiled.

"He kissed you?" she asked surprised.

"What? I didn't even say that."

"No but I can tell by the look on your face." she smiled.

"He might of." I laughed.

"Oh, Liz," she said. "Before he went on?' she asked me.

"Yeah. Kristy one of the girls told me that he sees me as his little good luck charm." I smiled.

"Aww..." she smiled. "That is really sweet."

"I know right?"

"I guess he is as sweet as he seems." she said.

"No, you have to meet him to get all his sweetness." I smiled.

"Okay, I need to go finish setting up outside for later tonight." she said.

"Why? I thought you said it was just family."

"It is. But it's like a big start of summer pool party."

"That's sounds fun." I smiled.

She gave me a hug and went back outside. When she shut the door behind her, I walked back over to the computer and played more of my favorite songs. By the time one o'clock rolled around, my aunt and Jay had already arrived. I kept playing my music until my grand mom came in and told me to get off. I went into the back closet and looked for one of my bathing suits in drawer that said my name. I scattered through my drawer past all the t-shirts and sweat pants I had shoved into it. When I finally found a bathing suit, I took it out of the closet, and went into the bathroom. When I finished, I was greeted by Jay.

"Hi." He greeted me.

"Hey Buddy." I said giving him a hug.

"We are swimming and Anthony is coming over." He said in his little four year old voice.

"That sounds like so much fun." I said with a smile.

He turned around and waddled out of the house. I placed my clothes in a pile on top of the dryer. When I turned around to go outside, I was greeted by my brother.

"Hi Lizzie." He greeted me with a smile. "I'm going to go swimming."

"Really? That sounds like fun!" I said again.

He smiled at me again, and ran over to the door. I followed him to the hallway, grabbed a towel, and ran outside in the back yard.

"WATCH OUT FOR ME!" I yelled as I jumped in the pool.

When my head came up above water, I looked over at my mom, aunt, and grand mom who were smiling back at me.

"Good entry." my aunt told me.

"Thank you." I said proudly.

I swam over to the ladder and climbed up and out of the pool. I walked over to the diving board and stepped on.

"DO A CANNONBALL LIZ!" my brother yelled.

"I WILL!" I yelled back.

I stood at the back of the board and began with a running start. When I reached the edge of the diving board, I jumped as hard as I could and flew into the air. I reached down for my feet and landed in the water. When I was underwater I swam up to the top and looked over at Anthony.

"How was that Anthony?" I asked him.

"Good Liz." he said.

I climbed out of the pool and went back over to the diving board. I looked over at Anthony and smiled.

"What now Anthony?" he asked.

He was about to answer until someone screamed his name from the driveway. I jumped into the pool and swam over to the steps in the shallow end. When I got out, I grabbed my towel off the lounge chair and followed him up the driveway. When we made it to the top, we were greeted by the Laws.

"Lizzie!" Sara yelled running over to me.

"Hi Sara," I said. "Ready to go swimming?"

"Yeah. I have my bathing suit already on." she said.

I said hi to Tyler, Scott, and Cindy then walked back down to the pool. I walked over to the table and sat down next to my grand mom.

"Who is coming down the driveway?" my mom asked.

"The Laws." I answered.

As I said their names, Tyler and Sara were racing into the pool area. I looked over at my mom who seemed surprised. My mom went over and greeted Cindy and followed her inside. I turned to my grand mom and smiled.

"I'm so happy she met Cindy. She makes her so happy." I said.

"Yeah," she said. "What are the Archuleta's doing?"

"Well, David is on tour and the rest of the family is home." I told her.

"Why don't you invite them over?"

"That seems cool." I said picking up the phone.

My grand mom picked up my cell phone and began pressing buttons. I guessed it was to get to my address book.

"You have David's number but I don't know if-" She stopped.

"Hello Mrs. Archuleta." I said into her home phone.

My grand mom looked at me with a surprised face. I wasn't sure if it was because I memorized David's home number or not but, it shocked me a little that she didn't know that I would have known his number.

"We were wondering if you and the family wanted to come down and join us at my grand mom's house." I said.

I watched my grand mom press a bunch of different buttons on my phone as I waited for a response.

"Okay so I'll see you when you get here?" I asked my phone.

I paused so she could answer me.

"Alright. Okay. Just come down the driveway when you get here. Bye." I said hanging up my phone.

"So what did she say?" My mom asked sitting down.

"Who?" I asked playing dumb.

"Mrs. Archuleta."

"You know the Archuleta family?" Cindy asked surprised.

"Of course. How do you think I got to the concerts and home from the airport?" I asked.

"Yeah." she said.

"So, is she coming?" she asked again.

"Yes. She was really happy about it to." I said.

"That's good." My grand mom said.

I stood up and walked over to the gate.

"Where are you going?" my mom asked me.

"I'm going to go wait out front." I told her.

"Why? I thought they knew where."

"They do but I just want to greet Da-" I was cut off.

"You miss David don't you sweetie?" Cindy asked me.

I quickly wiped away the one little tear that rolled down my face.

"Pssh. No." I said.

She got up and stood in front of me. I looked down at the ground at all times. Any tears I could feel, I quickly wiped them away. When I saw her feet under my eyes, I looked up and smiled. She crossed her arms and smiled.

"Liz, tell the truth. Do you miss David?" she asked again.

"YES!" I yelled as I wrapped my arms around her and began to cry.

"That's okay you're allowed to cry." she said.

"Why do I need a crying permit?" I laughed.

"No. I just wanted to let you know that-" she stopped. "Did you just make one of your smart comments?"

"I guess. I just didn't know that I needed a crying permit." I said wiping my tears.

"She may be missing him but she still knows her smart comments." my mom laughed from the table.

I stood there for a few minutes and hugged Cindy. My mom eventually came over and joined our hug. When we all let go of each other, I wiped my last tear and smiled.

"There we go." Cindy smiled.

"Now her face is all red and David's family is going to be here soon." my mom said worried.

"I can fix that." I shouted proudly.

I un-wrapped the towel that was around my waist and handed it to Cindy. I stared at the pool, ran towards it, and jumped in. When I came up above water, I looked over at my mom and Cindy who were both laughing and shaking their heads.

"You sure do know how to fix that problem." they both said together.

I smiled back and waved. When I heard a car door slam, I froze. My mom waved at me to get out of the pool and get the towel wrapped back around me. I did as I was told and got out. As soon as I got the towel wrapped around me, Jeff and Lupe showed up at the gate. My mom greeted them and introduced Cindy.

I walked over to the table and explained to Nana who everyone was. Lupe was the first one to introduce herself to my grand mom and start talking to her. When mom was done introducing Jeff to Scott and my dad, she brought him back into the pool area and walked him over to the table.

"Jeff, this is my mom." she said pointing to Nana.

"Hi. I'm Jeff." he said with a smile.

"Hi Jeff I'm Loraine." she said shaking Jeff's hand.

My mom walked over to the end of the table and brought over two chairs. My mom motioned them to sit down. When they finally sat, she sat back down on her chair.

"How are you?" my grand mom asked.

"Do you guys want anything to drink?" my mom added.

"Do you have any water?" Lupe asked.

"Yes. Liz, go get water."

"Jeff do you want anything?" I asked him.

"Liz, you call him Mr. Archuleta." she said.

"No. She doesn't have to," Jeff said. "She has been around us to much to call us that."

I turned to my mom and smiled.

"I'm going to go get your waters." I said.

I turned around with a smile on my face and walked up to the door before my dad stopped me.

"Who is that?" he whispered.

"Dad, that's Lupe and Jeff Archuleta."

"Yeah." he said in a confused tone.

"David's parents." I said.

"Oh." he said surprised.

"It's okay Dad." I said giving him a hug.

I walked into the house, over to the fridge and got out two water bottles. I walked back out to the pool area, and gave them their water, and sat back down.

"Thank you Liz." Lupe said.

"You're welcome," I said with a smile. "Where are Daniel and the girls?"

"They went down to their grand mom's house for the day." Lupe said.

"Oh. I hope we didn't ruin your day off." My mom said.

"Don't worry about it. The kids are always gone." she said.

"Oh. Well, I feel a little bit better." my mom said.

"So I heard that-" Cindy started.

I made some kind of noise to stop her. By the tone in her voice I knew she was going to mention David. He had left yesterday and I still wasn't fully over him yet. I didn't want Lupe to see how weak I was.

"I heard that Daniel won his championship for baseball." she said real proud.

"Yes, He did." Jeff answered.

"That's great. Was he real happy?"

"The whole team was ecstatic." he said real happy. "They all had this block party later that night."

"I remember that." I said. "David kept texting me and telling me about it."

"We did notice him on his cell phone a lot." Lupe smiled.

What did I just do? I didn't want them knowing that was me, and I'm sure David didn't want them knowing that either.

"Excuse me? Where is the bathroom?" Lupe asked looking at me.

"Inside right through the kitchen and it's the door on your right." My grand mom said.

"Do you mind if Liz shows me the way?" Lupe asked.

"No. She can show you." my mom said catching on.

She thanked her and nodded towards me. I took my phone off the table and followed her. When we where inside, she turned to me and smiled.

"You still miss him don't you?" She asked me.

"Kind of, I know that's bad and I'm sorry." I babbled.

"That's okay." she said.

"I know that I'm supposed to forget the fact that he is gone but it's hard to, I mean when he was here, we were always together." I said.

"Liz, I'm not mad at you," she said. "It made me so happy to see you two always together like that. Honestly it still makes me happy to see that you love him so much."

I was shocked. I expected her to tell me to calm down like the rest of them did. But she was different. She wanted me to stay connected to him. I wrapped my arms around her in a hug.

"Liz, don't you ever worry about what I think. I won't ever come between you two. I haven't seen him happy like this before. Well, maybe once when he had the David day." she said.

I laughed. I remembered watching that on Idol. I was so happy for him. I couldn't wait till next year, I was gonna celebrate it. I let go of the hug, and smiled.

"The bathroom is right there." I pointed.

"I don't have to go. I just needed to talk to you." she laughed.

"Why didn't you talk to me in the garage?" I asked.

"If I brought you into the garage they would have listened in on us." She said.

"You're probably right." I said smiling.

We walked back outside and everyone turned and looked at us. I looked down at the ground and Lupe spoke.

"What? Can't we come out of the house with out people looking at us?" she asked laughing.

Everyone else including me laughed. We sat back down at the table and joined in the conversations. The rest of the day was peaceful. We all talked and laughed at jokes. I was happy to see everyone get along just like I planed.

10


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

When I woke up the next morning, I reached under my pillow for my phone. I flipped the top and saw I had two text messages. I pressed the buttons to get to my inbox and read the phone number. I noticed it right away, it was David.

"Why would David text me?" I whispered to myself.

I decided not to question, just read. I opened the first message and laughed. He sent me a picture of him and the other Idols with funny faces. I shook my head and laughed. David always wanted to goof off, that was the best thing. I opened the second message and was confused. I whispered it to myself trying to understand it.

"Look out the window?" I whispered.

I got up and walked over to the window that had a view of his house. I couldn't believe it. I grabbed my brush and brushed through my hair and fixed up a little. When I was satisfied, I ran out my bedroom door right down the steps. When I landed on the bottom step, my running turned into a sprint. I didn't pay attention to my dad on the couch watching TV.

"Liz, good morning." he said getting up off the couch.

I ran into the kitchen and went into the snack cabinet. I looked around for the box of breakfast bars. When I found one, I rushed over to the fridge and pulled out the juice. My dad came over and grabbed my arm.

"Liz, stop running and tell me what is going on." he said with a mad tone in his voice.

"I'm sorry Dad, I'm just excited." I said trying to break free of his grip.

"Why are you this excited at nine in the morning?" he asked me.

"There is only one reason for me to be this excited right now."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"David is home today and he wanted to spend some time with me." I told him.

"Liz, I thought you got over that fact that he left to finish the tour?"

"I am Dad. But he only has one day to be home."

"Don't you think that you should give him a break?" he asked me.

"Dad he wants me to come over." I told him.

I could hear my phone vibrating against the counter. I hoped it would be David sending me a text asking where I was. I reached for my phone and read the text. I was right.

I flipped up my phone screen and read the message.

"Give the phone to your Dad and let him read this message." I read aloud.

I gave my dad the phone and when I let go of it, my message tone started. He looked at my phone screen with a confused smile on his face.

"Press the top button on the left." I directed him.

He looked back at my phone and pressed the button.

"Mr. Zebley I promise you that I'm home. If you don't believe me then look outside your kitchen window?" he read confused.

"Look out the kitchen window?"

What was he trying to get at? I followed the message's instructions and looked out the kitchen window. Standing on the grass waving at my house was a medium height boy, with black hair and an amazing baby face. Without saying anything to my dad, I sprinted right out the door, across the street, and right into his arms. When I decided to let go, all I saw was the wonderful hazel color of his eyes looking back at me.

"You won't believe how much I missed you." I told him.

"I'm sure I can get an idea." He smiled.

"Believe me, you have none." I laughed.

He brought his face closer to mine, and within a minute, our lips met. I didn't care who was watching us, not even my dad. The only thing that mattered was that he was home for a day or two and I was perfectly fine with that. He must have been thinking the same thing because I could feel his lips curling into a smile as he broke the kiss. I tried to give him a confused look hoping our lips would meet again but he didn't buy it.

"I'm only staying for tonight then leaving again tomorrow."

"Then why come home?" I asked him.

"I really missed my family." He told me.

"Oh." I said.

"But of course, I missed you." he said kissing my cheek.

I didn't say a word instead I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him. I loosened up a little to let his arms free so he could hug me back.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked me.

"I don't know," I said letting go of him. "Let's just sit down for a minute."

"Okay." he said pulling me down on the grass.

"How is the tour going?" I asked him.

"Good. It's so much fun to see all my fans." he said with a smile.

"I don't mean to sound like your mom when I say this but I'm so proud of you. I seriously don't think you could be any happier." I told him.

"Thanks mom." he said sarcastically.

"You said you wouldn't." I laughed.

"I know. But I couldn't help it." He said laughing.

"I'm gonna get you for that!" I said chasing him.

We ran across three lawns and eventually made it back to his house. When we made it back, he wrapped me in a hug and pulled me back down on the grass. I lay back down and looked around me. I was in the same spot as before. I could see David smiling out of the corner of my eye.

"I really missed you." I told him.

"I knew you did. That's one of the reasons I came back."

"But, I don't want you worrying about me for the rest of the tour. I promise I'll be okay."

"I know that. I've just never been away from home for so long." he said now with the smile gone.

"During the show you were gone longer." I pointed out.

"Yes. True. But my Dad was there with me."

"I know. But you have the rest of the Idols. They are like your family." I said.

"Very true." he laughed.

David turned on his side and placed his head against his hand. I stayed on my back and turned my head so I could see him better. Some thing about his smile warmed me up inside. His teeth were always so perfect and his smile was so unique. I turned on my side and laid my head on my arm and smiled back.

"I really don't know what I would do without you around." he told me.

"I don't know either." I replied.

We lay like that for only a little while longer until my mom called me in to come back to the house. I told David that I would be right back as I ran across the street to my screaming mother.

"We were going over to the pool. Do you want to see if David wants to go?" she asked me.

"Sure. What did Nana say?"

"She encouraged it. She called me and asked if he was home."

"Oh." I said texting David.

When I was done I looked over to his lawn and watched him run into his house. I couldn't help but wait to see his happy face running out the front door dressed in his bathing suit and ready to go. My mom had to shake me so she could talk.

"Why didn't you just go back across the street?" she asked me.

"I don't know. That's actually a good question." I said laughing.

My phone vibrated in my hand and I looked down at the screen. David had texted me back saying he could go.

"He can go Mom; he is changing right now and should be outside in five, four, three, and two-"

Before I could even say one, he was running across the street with the longest smile on his face. Some thing about his smile told me he had some good news to tell me.

"What happened? You look like you have something happy to tell me." I said to him smiling.

"I do. The show yesterday is going to be cancelled because they are on a storm watch starting tonight until late tomorrow night. So they cancelled and moved the concert forward two days." he said happily.

"So, you get to stay two days?" I asked surprised.

"Yes. Now we can spend more time with each other before I leave."

The sound of spending more time with David made me smile from ear to ear. I wrapped my arms around him and smiled.

"David that's great news," I told him. "I think both days we are going to my grand mom's pool so I guess we can spend some time there."

"Well, not really all your time." My mom said from behind me.

I turned around and looked at her confused. What was she saying?

"If you wanted to hang out in the morning and come over in the afternoon for dinner that would be okay with me and your grand mom." she said.

I smiled at my mom and hugged her.

"Are you sure that's okay?" I asked her letting go.

"I'm positive," She said. "Does that work out for you David?" She asked him.

"Of course, I just wanted to thank you for letting me come with you guys to the pool. You don't have to have me around both days though." he said sweetly.

"I know. But your Liz's boyfriend, you're allowed to go practically anywhere with us." she said.

Just the sound of my mom calling David Archuleta my boyfriend left my face feeling hot. I slipped past my mom and walked up the stairs.

"Where are you going?" she asked me turning around.

"I need to change," I told her. "I'll be right back."

As I finished walking up the rest of the stairs, I could hear my mom asking David if he wanted anything to drink. I walked into my room, shut the door, and sat on my floor. I thought about what my mom had said and what David's reaction must have been. I stood up and got changed into my bathing suit, and put on a pair of shorts and a tank top. When I was done I grabbed my bag and walked back downstairs, to find David and my mom standing by the front door talking. When I reached the bottom step I slid over next to David. My mom smiled at us both then walked past me.

"I'm going to set the alarm, you two can go get in the car its unlocked." she told us.

"Ok. We will be waiting in the car." I said opening the front door.

We walked over to the car and got inside. I climbed into the back seat and offered David the front. But he insisted on sitting in the back with me. I didn't argue with him, instead I let him sit in the seat next to mine. I looked out the window and held my phone tightly in my hand. I waited until David said something.

"I think it's sweet that your Nana invited me to go to her pool for the day." He said.

"Yeah, she loves to invite people over. She was the one who invited your family that one time."

"Does she normally do that?" he laughed.

"Well, sometimes. If we ever ask if we can invite someone she says sure." She loves people over at the pool.

My mom was now at the driver's side door. I sat back in my seat and smiled. She got in and started the car.

"Do you guys have everything you need?" my mom asked.

"Yes." We both answered at the same time.

"David, you might want to call your mom and tell her we won't be home till late."

"It's okay. I told my mom we were going to the pool." David said.

"Right, But she might not know that we are not going to leave till later tonight." She said.

"I told her about that. I told her that I wouldn't be home till late tonight."

"How do you know that?" she asked confused.

"When Liz sent me a text asking if I wanted to go she mentioned that I wouldn't come home till late." He said looking at me.

"Oh," she laughed. "No wonder you know so much."

I couldn't help but smile. Just the way that David said it to my mom made it sound like I warned him that we were going to be out late.

"But your mom is okay with that?" she asked.

"Yes, she said that was perfectly fine with her."

"Good," my mom said. "Are you allergic to anything?"

"No." he answered.

"Is there any foods you don't like?" she asked.

"No."

"Any foods you do like?" she asked.

I opened my mouth, getting ready to answer her.

"Don't answer." She said.

I knew she was talking to me. I knew almost everything about David. My friends always tried to quiz me but instead they just learned about him. I could hear David next to me laughing. I turned to him and burst out laughing with him. When we were able to breathe again, he answered my mom.

"Well, my favorite food is different from what most people eat." He answered.

"That's okay. I want to know anyway."

"Well, Thai Food is my favorite." He said in his shy voice.

"That's okay." My mom said.

Before anyone could add anything we pulled into my Nana's drive way. When the car stopped I looked over to David, who was typing on his phone. I held mine tightly in my hand, figuring it was to me. Soon enough my phone vibrated. I opened my inbox only to see a message from David.

"Why would you ask me if I knew the answer?" I asked. "Of course I would know." I laughed.

"I know. Just making sure." he said putting his phone into his pocket.

We both got out of the car and started walking towards the house, leaving my mom behind us with a confused look on her face. When we reached the bottom of the drive way, David beat me to the door and, as usual, opened it for me.

"Why thank you." I said in my pretend English accent.

"Your very welcome my love." he said in the same accent.

I looked down at my feet and walked into the house. Why did he have to be so sweet? I would probably never know the answer to that question, which was okay with me. As long as he stayed sweet, I would be happy. When I picked up my head I was greeted by my grand mom's smiling face.

"Hi Liz." she said.

"Hi Nana." I greeted her.

"You have a friend over." she said still smiling.

"Yes," I said turning to David. "Of course you know David Archuleta." I said.

"Of course."

"Nana this is David." I introduced.

"Hi David, I was such a fan of yours." she said shaking his hand.

"Oh Gosh. Thanks." He said.

Every time he said "Oh gosh" I couldn't help but laugh at him. He knew I never meant it. My grand mom looked over at me half confused and half mad.

"Did I say it again?" David asked me giggling.

I couldn't say anything because I was to busy holding back my laugh. I looked at him with a smile and nodded. I was happy to see David laugh, because I couldn't hold back mine any longer. We both burst out laughing leaving my grand mom confused.

"What is so funny?" She asked.

"Nothing. He just said "Oh Gosh" again." I told her.

"So why is that funny?" She asked me still confused.

"We actually don't know," I laughed. "I guess it's because he says it all the time."

I could hear David next to me still laughing.

"Well, okay. So where are you guys going?" she asked me.

"I was going to get some waters and a snack for me and David." I told her.

"Oh, okay." She told me. "What about changing?"

"We both got changed at home." I answered.

"Oh. I'll see you outside." She said walking out the door.  
I lead David towards the fridge and handed him a bottle of water. He thanked me with a kiss on the cheek then turned around to the table behind him. I turned and sat down in the chair next to him when I saw my younger brother TJ. I could tell by the look on his face he saw what David just did.

"I'm going to tell." he said with a smile.

"For what? David being my boyfriend and giving me a kiss on the cheek?" I asked him.

"You called David your boyfriend!" he yelled surprised.

"Because it's the truth!" I yelled back.

He looked at me surprised, like he had never known that David was indeed my boyfriend. I was sure that it wasn't new news to him. He knew David and I were going out.

He paused. I could tell he was trying to think of something to say. He looked back at me and walked out of the house. When I turned back around, David looked at me surprised. I didn't know if that was impressed surprised or that was not right surprised. I looked at him and smiled. He smiled back and hugged me. I thought about it, the smile was impressed. I hugged him back and smiled. I absolutely loved his hugs.

When he let go, he held onto my wrists and smiled, this time showing his teeth. I hadn't turned the kitchen or hallway light on so the light must have been from David's smile. I could feel my knees start to weaken.

"Maybe we should get outside." he said chuckling.

"Yeah. I guess so." I said leading him back outside.

When we got back out to the pool area, we both put our towels on a chair and turned and faced the water. David took my hand and nodded. We both counted to three and jumped right in. We both came up from the water and immediately started laughing. I swam over to the edge and sat on the side. I looked around the pool looking for David, but I couldn't see him anywhere. I looked down at the water thinking that David had dived down to the bottom, but I didn't see him.

I could hear some one behind me laughing I guessed it was either David or my mom and grand mom at the table. When I turned my head back to the water, I felt to hands on my back push me into the water. Before I came back up, I swam over to the other side. Behind me, I could hear David jumping into the water. When I came up from the water, I looked again for David, but couldn't see him. I turned around to the shallow end, meeting his eyes when he came up from the water. I stared into his gorgeous hazel eyes and sighed. Something about his eyes just made you sigh and you couldn't look away.

"Your eyes are amazing." I told him.

"Thanks I kind of knew that by the way you always look at them." He laughed.

"I'm sorry about that." I apologized.

"Yours are amazing too." he said.

I looked down at the water and smiled. He was so sweet. I looked back up to him and smiled. Once again, he brought his face close to mine and smiled. I closed the gap and brought my lips to his. I forgot about being in the pool and the fact that my mom and grand mom were sitting at the table. Until I heard my grand mom shouting.

"No kissing in my pool!" She yelled at us.

We both paused and broke apart. I dove under water and swam over to the diving board. When I came up from the water, I could see David following me. When he came up from the water, he grabbed onto the side of the diving board and laughed.

"Maybe out in the open wasn't a smart idea." I said.

"Maybe not. But why did you run away? It's only your mom and grand mom they won't care." he said.

"They could," I told him. "They are just the kind of people that just turn everything into a joke."

"True," he said laughing. "But, we didn't get in trouble."

"Well, obviously." I laughed.

"Come on. Let's get out for a little, I'm cold."

"I don't want to." I said.

"Scared of your mom?" he asked me.

"No. Of course not." I lied.

He looked at me and smiled. I could tell he was trying to get me to tell him the truth. Along with having the most gorgeous eyes and a flawless face, he had the power to get you to say whatever was on your mind.

"Yes." I admitted.

"Was that so hard?" He asked me laughing.

"Yes." I answered.

Neither of us could help but laugh at my answer. We both climbed out of the pool and walked over to the table. I stood there off to the side in the sun.

"Where is your towel?" David asked me.

"I forgot one," I laughed. "Don't worry though I'll dry off."

He walked over next to me and smiled. He un-wrapped his towel from his shoulders and placed it on mine. I looked at him and smiled.

"Thank you." I said.

"Your welcome."

I could hear my mom laughing and I could see my grand mom smiling out of the corner of my eye.

"Isn't that so sweet Wendy?" My grand mom asked.

"Nana." I said.

"What? He gave you is towel."

"I know." I said smiling and looking down.

David placed his hand lightly on my shoulders, and his other around me like a hug. I looked at him and smiled. When he smiled back, our eyes locked with each others. I couldn't hear my mom and grand mom talking I couldn't hear the sounds of summer, or the sound of the little vacuum in the pool. Only a couple seconds passed until our lips met again. I could feel my knees begin to weaken. His grip around my waist grew stronger. I knew he was trying his hardest to keep me up on my feet. Sadly, it didn't take my mom much time to catch us. But, on the other hand, I never fell to the ground.

"Liz, didn't I just tell you not to kiss him?" she asked with a tone.

"No. You said no kissing in the pool. We are now on the ground and there was no rule against that." I laughed.

I was worried about my answer. I didn't know if she would find it funny like I did. I glanced over to my grand mom who had a smile on her face. At least someone found it funny. I looked back at my mom who also had a smile. I sighed in relief.

"That is true." she laughed.

"That was a good one." My grand mom said still laughing.

When my mom was able to speak without laughing, she turned back to us.

"What do you guys want to eat?" my mom asked.

"I don't care what we have." I answered.

"David, what would you like?" My mom asked him.

"I don't mind at all." He said real sweet.

"I'm just going to get pizza then," My mom said turning to my grand mom. "What do you want on it?"

"I want cheese and pepperoni." I said.

"I'll have the same." David answered.

"Great. So I'm going to go inside and order."

Before we knew it my mom was already by the door and going inside. I turned to my grand mom who had already started a conversation with David. I took a chair from the other table and slid it behind David. He thanked me and sat down.

"Where is your chair?" He asked me.

"I got it." I said laughing.

I took another chair and placed it right next to David. David angled himself so he was facing my grand mom and was able to hold my hand. I could see her grin at me as soon as our hands joined. I looked up at her and nodded.

"So David, what are your plans after the tour?" She asked him.

"Hopefully enjoy whatever is left of the summer." He laughed.

We all laughed at his answer. I understood what he was talking about. I hid my laugh as my grand mom got ready to ask her next question.

"Do you miss your family a lot?" she asked.

"Of course I do. But I talk to them all the time. My mom calls me everyday and everyone tries to get the phone when they can."

"Oh good."

My mom came out of the house holding her phone close to her face trying to read something. My mom sat down in her seat and laughed.

"What happened?" my grand mom asked.

"Cindy has been texting me saying that the kids keep asking if they can come over to swim, Scott wants to talk to Tom."

"Okay."

"She wants to know if they can come over for a little bit. Is that okay?"

"Sure. That's fine." she answered.

They continued to ask David questions about life on the road, the other idols, and about him. Most of the questions I knew the answer. When my mom asked a question she would look at me and I would just shake my head and smile. We continued to talk until we heard something that sounded like a car door. My mom spun her chair around so it was facing the gate.

I could hear their voices getting louder and louder as they came down the driveway. I inched my chair behind David and sat there.

"Liz, don't say anything about David. I want to see how long it's going to take her to realize that he's here."

"Okay," I turned to David. "Don't make a big deal of yourself." I said to him laughing.

We both knew that was just a joke. No matter where David was, he always tried to lay low. But, it never worked. Fans always found him.

"Hello everyone!" Cindy said when she reached the gate.

"Hello you." my mom said in reply.

Cindy put her bags down on the grass and hugged my mom.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Great now that I'm here." she said laughing and walking over to me.

"Hi Cindy." I said giving her a hug.

"Hi, how are you?" she asked me.

"Good. You?"

"Good." She said walking past me over to David.

"Hi Tom." She said as she hugged David.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. My mom shot me a look telling me it wasn't a good time to laugh, but I couldn't help it. Cindy looked at me confused so, I tried to make something up.

"I just thought of something funny that happened yesterday." I said giggling.

"Oh." She said turning back to David.

"So how are you Tom?" she asked.

"Um… Good?" he responded.

Cindy placed her phone on the table and turned back to David. When she finally realized who she was talking to, her face turned from happiness to pure shock. I walked over behind David and smiled.

"Cindy, this is my good friend David Archuleta."

9


End file.
